Hexagon Agility recently hosted Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, who toured their composite-tank manufacturing plant at the Lincoln Airport’s industrial park. In 2005, the company, which was previously named Brunswick Corporation became Lincoln Composites when it was purchased by General Dynamics. It was subsequently sold to Norwegian company Hexagon Composites. Now named Hexagon Agility, it employs 350 people but is hoping to expand that number by 100 over the next 18 months.
“It really inspires me, being a lifelong Nebraskan, spending our lives as farmers and ranchers and producers caring about our environment. Seeing Hexagon and what they are doing is really exciting to see others do the same,” said Gov. Pillen when toured the facilities to spotlight its innovation and expansion.
The plant produces high-pressure carbon fiber reinforced tanks for vehicles. “We produce fuel systems that run on natural gas. They run very, very efficiently, clean, much lower emissions than a traditional diesel engine,” explained Hexagon Agility interim President Andy Griffiths.
Currently, Hexagon Agility is experiencing huge growth as more and more U.S. companies switch their vehicle fleets to run on more sustainable fuels, such as CNG and bio-CNG, to reduce their carbon footprint. “One of the biggest drivers of our business today are companies choosing to do the right thing for the environment,” added Griffiths.
They produce more than 35,000 carbon-fiber tanks annually in Lincoln and count large companies such as UPS and Waste Management among its customers. They also provide their tanks to truck and bus makers, some of which are used by local government agencies such as Lincoln Transportation & Utilities and Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha.
Another company’s division makes mobile pipelines. They can transport large amounts of renewable and compressed natural gas where traditional gas pipelines can’t. Hexagon Agility makes more than 200 modules in Lincoln that contain larger tanks and are used as either mobile pipelines to transport gas or as mobile CNG stations.
