Titanium producer Timet is making progress at its Ravenswood plant

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — The future of manufacturing is well underway at the Timet construction site in Jackson County.

Timet, short for Titanium Metals Corporation, is building a plant that will use large furnaces to melt titanium.

“It is lighter than steel but stronger and is used in aerospace, in Department of Defense work, in commercial industrial applications, as well as in medical applications,” Timet Chief Operating Officer Aaron Valentine said Tuesday during a media event at the Route 2 construction site .a few miles from Ravenswood.

Timet, a Berkshire Hathaway-affiliated Precision Castparts Corporation company, hopes to begin the melting process in the first quarter of 2025, Valentine said.

“Our final product will be titanium ingots, cast pieces of titanium that we will ship to our mill in Toronto, Ohio, where they will actually mill various product forms for our customers,” Valentine said.

Currently, there are several large holes and large cranes on the 50-acre site, where contractors are pouring concrete for the foundations of large kiln shafts.

Renewable energy component

The reason Timet chose Ravenswood is directly related to the Berkshire Hathaway Renewables solar plant being built across Route 2.

“Our role is to provide them with energy, ensure that a percentage of their energy comes from renewable sources and enable them to use both regular energy sources and renewable sources,” said Vic Sprouse, BH Renewables project manager.

Valentine said the plant will draw power from the world’s largest microgrid and will be the world’s first titanium plant powered by renewable energy.

“This is very important to Timet and to our customers and stakeholders in the industry. It is extremely important for us as a company to have sustainable and reliable energy to power our processes,” said Valentine.

A total of 2,000 acres could be developed between these two locations.

Job offers available

According to HR manager Hannah Hesson, Timet is looking for employees.

“Right now we’re looking for a lot of engineers, technical specialists that we can hire here and really allow them to take this project from ground to construction,” Hesson told MetroNews on Tuesday. “They will be our inherited knowledge. They are the ones we will rely on, so it is important that they arrive in space as quickly as possible.”

Apply here

Several hourly positions are also available. Hesson said those hired as operators would be sent to other Timet facilities for training.

“We don’t want to wait until we have a building and are ready to start the training process. We are already looking for candidates every day to find the right person for our team,” said Hesson.

The company hopes to launch with 200 employees.

Timet will host a community open house in Spencer on June 24 at the Heritage Park Community Building from 4 to 7 p.m.

Good place

Valentine said Ravenswood and Jackson County were the right place for Timet for many reasons.

“This area has a really strong history of supporting aerospace and other industrial uses, a good workforce and a good community. We hope to complement what already exists and build on it,” he said.

Timet has several melting plants around the world. Valentine said the Ravenswood plant will use the latest technology.

“It will be best-in-class, cutting-edge technology,” he said. “We will take what is working so well in other plants and what makes Timet a leading titanium producer, we will build on that, on existing technology and know-how, and then we will want to take that and create what the best thing about classes here at Ravenswood.