OKEECHOBEE — On Sept. 30, Bautech USA started receiving the first pieces of equipment for their new facility in the Okeechobee Airport Industrial Park.

Bautech USA provides solutions for the construction industry through the manufacture, distribution, installation and maintenance of precast concrete products. The first equipment to arrive at the Okeechobee facility was apparatus for the batching plant, where the concrete will be created.

The company’s CEO, Sergio Prahl, signed a lease agreement for the purchase of two buildings in the industrial park back in February.

“This is a very exciting day for me and Bautech USA,” said Prahl shortly after signing the lease agreement. “Everyone has made me feel very welcomed, and we are looking forward to being a part of the community. I am very excited about expanding Bautech to the United States and more importantly to Okeechobee.”

More equipment will be arriving within the next few months, and the company plans to have the facility operational by January of next year.

The technology at the planned facility is fully automated and will be the first of its kind in the United States.

The facility in Okeechobee will be a clean process, with no air or water contaminants and little to no waste. They will be able to produce 800 metric tons per day or 230,000 metric tons a year of precast concrete products. They currently have letters of intent for several projects for hurricane and storm damage mitigation that will be the plant’s first production. Bautech USA plans to hire approximately 20 locals to include executives, managers, engineers and production engineers.

Bautech was founded in Guatemala in 2004 with a management team that has over 30 years’ experience in the industry.

“This is why we formed the Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation,” said OCED Chairman Frank Irby, “so that industries would have a single point of contact to help businesses open or expand and bring industrial diversification to our region.”

Okeechobee Airport Manager Adam Hied has said that working with Bautech is a pleasure.

“I am truly excited that they have chosen Okeechobee County to open their first U.S. state-of-the-art facility,” explained Hied. “I’m looking forward to continuing the great relationship we have built, and watching the impact they will have on the community in the years to come.”