National Refractories & Minerals Corp., a Livermore, Calif.-based manufacturer of heat-resistant materials for industrial furnaces, has leased space in the Spokane Valley for a regional distribution center.


The new distribution center is located in 10,200 square feet of industrial space at the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, at 3808 N. Sullivan. The company employs three people there, and the regional office will serve an area that includes Central and Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and northern Wyoming, says Al Johnson, a regional senior sales representative based here.


Johnson says National Refractories & Minerals has served Inland Northwest clients for several years and had operated a sales office here about seven years ago. He says the company reopened the office here to beef up its presence.


Locally, the companys largest clients are Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.s two Spokane-area plants and Post Falls-based IMCO Recycling of Idaho Inc., Johnson says. It also serves several boiler contractors and masonry contractors.


The company, which does business internationally, makes firebricks and other refractory materials for lining industrial furnaces.


Brent Long, of Crown West Realty LLC, handled the lease.