Ampal Inc., an aluminum alloy powder producer in Lower Towamensing Township, announced in May that it will be expanding its facilities by 50 percent. That expansion is on course for completion by January 2018.

Niels Nielson, the company's senior vice president, said the catalyst for the expansion was a request from a large client in Louisiana - one that was expanding, too. The request was to open a location near them. That wasn't an option, Nielson said, but purchasing the empty buildings next door was. The buildings had been sitting empty after the Great American Pellet Co. went out of business in 2013.

"Just having that insurance from a customer gave us the money to do what we wanted to do anyway," Nielson said.

The project will cost between $4 million and $5 million, he said.

Nielson said Ampal and its clients are seeing an uptick in powdered aluminum products, because of an increase in use in the automotive industry.

"There's a real interest in reducing the weight in cars," he said. "This is big for us. It's a really important part of what we do."

Aluminum has half the weight of steel, while maintaining two-thirds the strength, Nielson said. The loss of strength is made up in thickness, because aluminum parts are thicker than steel.

"You don't get all of the benefits of reduced weight, but you get most of it," he said.

Ampal has been operating at its current location since it moved there in 1982 from Flemington, New Jersey. The company operates on a 4-acre parcel that includes a foundry, warehouse and secondary operation buildings.

With the purchase of the empty property, Ampal renovated the office building and moved some offices into it. Next year, four laboratory workers from the Flemington office will begin working there. They also acquired a 27,000 square-foot warehouse, which was sorely needed, Nielson said.

"We have these, so all we really have to do is build another foundry unit," Nielson said. It will be located behind the newly acquired office building.

Once the new foundry is running, Ampal will begin upgrading the equipment in the older foundry almost immediately, Nielson said. Over the years, new technology has been developed, so upgrade obsolete equipment is crucial to the company, he said.

All of the major new equipment, such as the furnace and air compressors, will come from companies in the United States.

"If you get heavy equipment from out of this country, then getting spare parts is a real nightmare," Nielson said.

With the expansion, Nielson expects the staff to increase from 29 employees to more than 40. About 15 more employees will be hired to work as furnace operators, maintenance staff and laboratory workers. Most of these positions, except for the laboratory workers, will not require previous experience in the industry, because Ampal will train them.

"Some of our best people were trained here," he said.

Another feature Nielson really found attractive about the empty lot is its easy access to the short line Chestnut Ridge Railroad. With rising costs in over-the-road transport, railcar shipping is becoming more economical, he said.

"No question about it. Rail is better now than in the 40 years I've been working in (the powdered metal industry)," he said. "Our customers are more and more often taking their powder in big bulk rail cars. The cost per mile is much lower than shipping in steel drums over the road."