Central Montana's vibrant manufacturing center reaches global markets.

• Author: Furniss, Shannon

Situated in the geographic center of Montana in the midst of rolling hills, farms, and ranches is something a little unexpected: one of the most vibrant manufacturing communities in the state. With a population of about 6,500, Lewistown has a cluster of companies that design, engineer, and manufacture products for airports, oil companies, federal agencies, food distribution centers, sports arenas, hospitals, banks, schools, the military, and the aerospace industry, to name a few. Together, the group supports nearly 500 manufacturing jobs in the Lewistown area.

One Lewistown business, Century Companies Inc., has about 175 employees and does everything from paving streets to building subdivisions and airports throughout the rural West and "hangs its hat" on manufacturing a raw material into a finished product, according to Century's CEO Tim Robertson. The company produces much of its own material --around 50 tons to 400 tons of hot-mix asphalt per hour out of each of its eight plants. With its fleet of "rolling stock," which encompasses more than 400 pieces of large construction equipment, the company paves airport hangers, runways, access roadways, and highways.

Just down the road is Spika Welding and Manufacturing, a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing industrial work platforms and ground support equipment for people working on military aircraft, tactical vehicles, and satellites. Tom Spika started his business as a two-person shop and has grown it into a multi-million-dollar company employing about 50 people. Last year, Spika Welding was named "Manufacturing Exporter of the Year." Spika exports his products globally to markets in Sweden, Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. He also is the chairman of the Montana Manufacturing Council, a subsidiary of the Montana Chamber of Commerce.

Not far from Spika Welding and Century Companies is Allied Steel, which manufactures structural steel for malls, schools, hospitals, sports arenas, power plants, and other buildings all over the U.S. Allied Steel employs 190 people, 90 in its Lewistown shop and 100 in different locations in-state and out-of-state. Most of the manufacturing is done in Lewistown--the employees located elsewhere help with skilled detailing and overflow projects, according to Jeff Southworth, Allied Steel's president. Right now, the company has 20 active jobs, which involve 11,343 tons of structural steel and a total of 193,640 shop hours. This year, the company's president says he expects around 1,000 semi-trucks to carry full loads of product to different jobs.

Also nearby are HCR Inc. and Hi-Heat Industries Inc. HCR produces a re-circulatory air curtain door system that major food...