Cashman dedicates campus, expects tough year ahead

By Becky Bosshart

Monday, Feb. 16, 2009 | 4:24 p.m.

With a yellow and black banner hoisted high Monday on an aerial platform in front of its environmentally friendly building, Cashman Equipment dedicated its new 53-acre industrial campus on St. Rose Parkway.

Hopes were as high as a 50-foot boom lift, but reality is keeping them firmly on the ground.

Construction is expected to contract heavily this year. Cashman, a Caterpillar equipment dealership, laid off about 60 people in December, which is about 7 percent of its Nevada workforce. Marketing official Kate Graziano said that number was needed to “right size the company” for the expected continued economic downturn. Cashman has 7 locations in Nevada and 750 employees statewide.

Caterpillar Inc. announced in January that it’s laying off about 20,000 workers, more than 10 percent of its global workforce. The Peoria, Ill.-based heavy-equipment manufacturer had a good 2008, but it expects a 25 percent drop in sales volume this year.

Cashman’s investment in Henderson (the amount is unclear, because the private company declined to release the construction cost) is a bright flash of corporate yellow in an otherwise gray desert of recession. It employs 325 people at the 308,000-square-foot campus.

New features were added to the rental, sales and repair center, like its own geothermal power system, an oil filtration system and an expanded parts warehouse that has same-day service to all of Southern Nevada.

But Graziano, in a familiar tune heard throughout the land, said the company added only a few new jobs.

“We have weathered this economic downturn better than other Caterpillar dealers,” she said while guiding a tour through the campus, which was a consolidation point for three Cashman properties.

Cashman closed a Henderson shop on Parkson Road, a power generation site on Vandenberg Drive and a facility at Craig Road, both in North Las Vegas.

About 3 1/2 years ago, the company learned it was losing acreage at its North Las Vegas Craig Road site because of the Interstate 15 expansion. Cashman paid Henderson $28 million for the property at 3300 St. Rose Parkway.

Officials joked that whenever they build something new, the economy takes a nosedive.

“When Jim Cashman built the North Las Vegas location that was in the late 1970s-early 80s,” Graziano said, which was followed by the ‘81-’82 recession. “MaryKaye Cashman said whenever we build a building, that’s a fantastic indicator that the economy is going to slump.”

Cashman officials called the new buildings the largest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-designed industrial campus in the state.

Officials stressed that recycling was considered early on, and about 818 tons of construction waste was recycled.

The dedication ceremony included a ribbon cutting by Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer MaryKaye Cashman, widow of James Cashman III, whose family founded the company, and whose 77-year history is intricately linked to Southern Nevada.

It was founded in 1931 to sell equipment for the Hoover Dam project. Today, CAT generators sold by Cashman provide back-up power supplies to many Strip casinos, including the MGM Grand, the New York-New York and Planet Hollywood.

The new campus features industrial art along walking path welded by two Cashman employees, Shon Parks and Tim Moriarty.

Remann and his dog Bolt, a sculpture created out of CAT parts, greets visitors in the lobby, which is bathed in light from a wall of high-performance glass windows with solar tracking driven shades.

One of the other noticeable features in the seven buildings is the smell, or lack of it.

“You’ll notice you that it doesn’t have that new car or new building smell, and that’s because we’ve selected carpeting and furniture with low-volatile organic compounds,” said Roger Thomas, senior project manager with Burke & Associates. The general contractor finished construction in 18 months, allowing Cashman to move in late November.

Beneath all this, and perhaps one of the greatest sources of envy for this site, is the campus’ air heating and cooling source: geothermal wells hooked up to 65 miles of piping.

“It’s using the earth as a heat battery,” Thomas said. “It allows us to very efficiently heat and cool the building.”

In a white tent in the parking lot, more than 130 guests streamed in to fete the new campus.

Out in the yards, heavy equipment for construction, paving and mining were spaced out in neat, long rows, waiting for the next ground breaking.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].