Griffin Wheel Co.

The Griffin Wheel Co. is a division of the privately-owned, Chicago, Illinois-based Amsted Rail. It manufactures steel rail car wheels and related components. The company constructed its seventh production facility in unincorporated Jefferson County at 2100 Griffin Wheel Drive off 18th Avenue north of Bessemer in 1964. The plant, which is accessed by the Birmingham Southern Railroad, produced its three millionth wheel in 1994.

Griffin Wheel, which employed as many as 160 workers, was idled between 2001 and 2011, and closed again in September 2016. The re-opening of the plant in 2011 was subsidized with Recovery Zone Bonds authorized by the City of Birmingham and property tax abatements from Jefferson County.

References

• "Griffin Wheel Chooses Bessemer, Ala., As Site of Its Seventh Plant" (1961) Midwest Engineer
• "Griffin Wheel Opens Bessemer Plant" (1964) Railway Age, Vol. 156, p. 72
• "Griffin Wheel Plant Reaches Milestone" (1994) Iron and Steel Engineer. Vol. 71
• Tomberlin, Michael (December 7, 2010) "Railroad wheel plant to reopen near Bessemer, possibly bringing 160 jobs." The Birmingham News
• Williams, Roy L. (June 30, 2011) "Amsted Rail's hiring event draws big crowd in Bessemer." The Birmingham News
• Steere, Tim (June 2, 2016) "Bessemer railcar facility to idle operations." Birmingham Business Journal