POCATELLO — SME Steel, a steel fabrication company with projects in commercial, industrial and infrastructure sectors, is expanding to a new location at the Pocatello Regional Airport.

SME Steel already has a foothold in the Gate City at its 3770 Pole Line Road location inside the Titan Center but will expand to the site of the former metal fabricator Petersen Inc., 1463 Fortress St., at the Pocatello Regional Airport.

Steve Peterson, Rob Despain and Petersen Inc. had been seeking a buyer for their building when they were approached in December by SME Steel. The company was conscientious about retaining jobs in Pocatello and met with the Portneuf Valley Development Corp., which acted as a liaison between Petersen Inc. and SME Steel to broker a deal that would be in the best interest of everyone involved.

At a minimum, SME Steel will be required to provide 50 jobs at the new airport location and provide those employees with benefits, but it has promised more than 70.

The timeline for the opening of SME’s new airport location is still being worked out.

Portneuf Valley Development played a big role in the project.

“My job is to walk them through this process and make sure businesses come here,” said MiaCate Kennedy I, CEO of Portneuf Valley Development. “If they need a workforce, or expansion, or any of those things, we will make sure that they’re successful.”

While SME Steel could have found a new location in nearby Utah or in any of the other states where it operates, such as Nevada or Arizona, the Portneuf Valley Development Corp. incentivized SME Steel by pushing for a tax reimbursement incentive through the Idaho Department of Commerce, the first since 2014.

“The workforce keeps us up there in Pocatello,” said James Hutchison, director of marketing at SME. “The workforce there really fits our brand of standards. We’re craftsmen. We work hard. We pride ourselves on a handshake deal. We pride ourselves on getting to know the people around us. When you combine a brand with the people around it, and everyone can jump on board, you can make some magic. The growth of SME over the last few years has just been astounding. It’s really a credit to our employees in Pocatello and obviously all of our employees around the country.”

Hutchison said that while SME Steel is headquartered in West Jordan, Utah, having another nucleus in the Gate City area to work and collaborate made sense from a logistical standpoint.

“That was a big incentive for us, to be able to keep what we currently have and expand upon it in a way that was beneficial for us, beneficial for our customers, and honestly, beneficial to the Pocatello area,” Hutchison said. “It’s been great working up there.”

SME Steel has been operating in Pocatello since the late 1990s, and Hutchison said he is hopeful the opening of the Pocatello airport facility will add to that success.

“It gives us the flexibility to split jobs between our West Jordan facility and up in Pocatello,” Hutchison said. “That’s something a lot of large manufacturers don’t have is proximity. It’s a couple hours away, but the proximity of being that close is actually really nice, because if we’re ever hurting in one area or the other, we can always lean on each other. Opening one more spot in Pocatello gives us that much more flexibility.”

With recent additions such as the Morton building shipping plant, the Pocatello Regional Airport has become a hub of industrial manufacturing and a source of well-paying jobs for local residents.

“The airport is such a huge economic factor,” Kennedy said. “It’s such an opportunity to create revenue that we otherwise wouldn’t have, along with the jobs, which is what’s important to the people, these good-paying jobs with benefits. SME Steel is a great company. You can count on it and be confident. That’s what I think is really important to the people. We know that this is a really great chance for us, and we’re lucky to have them, so I’m excited.”

Both Hutchison and Kennedy were quick to acknowledge their gratitude toward everyone involved in Petersen Inc. and its willingness to move forward in a way that benefited area residents and the companies involved. Kennedy also recognized the efforts of city employees and airport staff in helping bring everything together.

Hutchison added, “We want to continue moving forward in that direction. We’re excited to get more work through Pocatello and bring more people into the facilities and to be able to be a better partner in the community and a bigger part of the community.”