SALISBURY — Growing to a 100,000-square-foot facility, New York Air Brake celebrated its grand opening Monday at its new location in Summit Corporate Center.

The move from its Whitney Industrial Park location will also bring more than 35 new jobs.

The facility houses Air Brake’s Premtec division, which manufactures hoses for freight and locomotive air brake control systems.

With 30 employees, Premtec became part of New York Air Brake in 2009 and occupied a 22,000-square-foot plant in China Grove before moving to a 38,000-square-foot facility in 2016.

The new plant at 115 Summit Park Drive began operations in October. 

“We’ve gotten great cooperation in terms of training from the local government, and we’re happy to accept that training,” said Ulisses Camilo, president and CEO of New York Air Brake. “It just makes our employees better and happier. I would say economic factors are important, training, the quality of the employees, and we didn’t start from zero.”

The current plant will allow for 50,000 square feet of expansion if needed.

“The performance of the workforce here has propelled us to put more in here,” Camilo said. “The reality is this location is in competition with some of our other locations, and if the location performs well, then it provides us good incentive to bring more work into this area. So far, so good. We’re well on our way to 150 employees.”

The new plant is climate-controlled and will offer a workout facility and a health center for employees. The plant will vary on two to three shifts, depending on the economy.

“We’re really happy to be here, and we’ve been happy for 10 years,” Camilo said. “We’re excited about a new facility, and we’re very happy for the employees because this really is a big change in their life as far as the quality of the work space that they’re in compared to where they started.”

Darren Skiles, the operations manager, led a tour of the plant for county and city leaders. He thanked the county and city for helping New York Air Brake.

The project was supported by Rowan County, Rowan County Economic Development Commission, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and others.

“We appreciate the strong cooperation and support we’ve always received from our partners here in Rowan County,” said Greg Dalpe, Air Brake vice president of operations. “Their efforts have helped us continue to expand in this area, and we look forward to what the future has to offer.”

Salisbury Mayor Pro Tem David Post commended the county for its work on growth and expansion projects, saying this is one of many.

New York Air Brake is headquartered in Watertown, New York, and has manufacturing plants in Missouri, Illinois and Texas.

For more information, visit nyab.com.