LOCKHART, Texas — Mill Scale Metal Works, otherwise known as Mill Scale LLC, has selected Lockhart, otherwise known as the Barbecue Capital of Texas, to expand its barbecue pit manufacturing and headquarters operations.
The company is buying 1.3 acres next to Kreuz Market to build its 10,000-square-foot facility, where its custom pits will be manufactured and distributed to barbecue pitmasters around the world.
Mill Scale plans to break ground soon. Once completed, the company expects to bring more tax revenue and up to 15 new jobs to Lockhart.
"Mill Scale’s connection to barbecue fits in perfectly with the ‘Barbecue Capital of Texas,’" said Lockhart Mayor Lew White. "We awarded incentives to Mill Scale to give the company that extra spark to move forward with its new facility, which will encourage growth and job creation to further enhance our community’s business development."
The company has been building barbeque smokers and other fire-based cooking devices for over five years, and for some of the industry's most well-known names. Many restaurants listed in Texas Monthly's popular "Top 50 BBQ Joints" list use its pits.
“Where else than the BBQ Capital of Texas would we want to be?” Mill Scale co-owner Matt Johnson said. “Lockhart has been incredibly welcoming to us since we moved here and we’re excited for our business to call Lockhart home.”
With the expansion closer to downtown, Johnson hopes to partner with the local barbecue businesses to educate the public about what goes into barbecues and grills.
"What we're trying to do is to partner with the local barbecue joints here in Lockhart that have been here and have really acquired legendary status in the world for what they've done for barbecue and Central Texas specifically," Johnson said. "What we're hoping to do is to work with those guys to do community events, to focus on barbecue, education through classes, and [our new building] will also allow us to have a retail storefront for folks to actually come in, put their hands on the units, ask questions."
Mill Scale was founded in 2018. They create smokers and grills ranging from a 94-gallon backyard model to a 1,000-gallon commercial pit.
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