A metal fabrication company in Rocky Mount will be hiring 30 people over the next couple of years as part of a planned expansion.

New Standard Corp., a metal stamping, fabrication, welding and assembly manufacturer with a facility at 3883 Church St., plans to hire 30 new permanent full-time workers by June 30, 2013.

It also is investing in new equipment, but not adding square footage to its building.

“We’re committed to $300,000 worth of new investment (in equipment),” said Mark Wheeler, chief financial officer for the company said. “There will be stamping, press and fabrication and welding equipment.”

New Standard Corp. located its facility in Rocky Mount in 2005. Since then, the company has invested more than $11 million in equipment and hired more than 30 employees.

Wheeler said the company already has made a significant investment in expanding the building in 2007 to produce 59 parts for Electrolux stainless steel dishwashers.

Logistically, Rocky Mount is located close to some of the companies buying the parts, he said.

Wheeler said they had considered the expansion at the company’s plant in south central Pennsylvania, but Rocky Mount made more sense.

“Our ability to expand down there (was a factor),” he said. “We have been very pleased with the caliber of people we’ve gotten, and the assistance of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership. Those are key factors in our decision to move (the expansion) down there.”

The partnership, which recruits industries, is a coalition of more than 200 public and private sector investors from the Twin Counties.

Wheeler said the new hires will be local people, and he noted that Nash Community College has a good training program for the hourly manufacturing positions.

The expansion is a result of growth of existing customers, new business opportunities and transfer of work from other facilities, a partnership press release states.

The company’s customers include Caterpillar, Electrolux and John Deere.

“We’re very pleased with the continued partnership and our ability to expand in North Carolina,” New Standard’s owner Mort Zifferer Jr. said in a prepared statement. “We’re delighted with the relationship that began in 2005, and look forward to continued growth of our business in this region.”

Frank Harrison, chairman of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership, said one of the partnership’s goals is to work with existing industry and assist those companies with expansions.

“We are pleased to have assisted New Standard with their expansion and look forward to the new jobs being created for the Twin County citizens,” Harrison said.