Worthen Equipment readies its move into expanded facilities

Its growth supercharged by the boom in Nevada's mines, Worthen Equipment Inc. of Sparks will move to a new 20,000-square-foot facility at Mustang in early August.

It will move out of a cramped building on Larkin Circle at the east edge of Sparks.

The company headed by Rick Worthen handles transmissions for industrial vehicles ranging from cement trucks to the giant loaders that handle ore at open-pit and underground mines.

The mining business is so significant, in fact, that the company operates a satellite operation at Elko to be near those big customers.

Worthen Equipment also has diversified into specialized truck bodies the bodies installed on utility company trucks, for instance as a distributor for companies such as Knapheide Manufacturing and

Omaha Standard.

These days, Worthen says, the company's business is about evenly divided between the transmission

operation and sales of truck bodies. But he says the mining industry's demand for equipment, as well as the industry's tough operating conditions, have provided much of the recent growth for Worthen Equipment.

The company founded in 1984 currently employs about 20, although Worthen says that number could grow by 10 after the company moves into the new facility just off Interstate 80 about five miles east of Sparks.

The contractor on the building project is Bob Hockenhull Construction of Reno. Heritage Bank of Nevada provided financing for the new facility. NNBW staff