Uponor Wirsbo Co. will consolidate office space in an expansion that will add 43,500 square feet for manufacturing and offices to its Apple Valley, Minn., headquarters.
The maker of cross-linked polyethylene pipe announced the move Sept. 8. The project, to be completed in 2006, is part of a 10-year plan to develop 6.7 acres of land that Uponor purchased in Apple Valley, officials said.
``The first two pieces of that plan are to add 25,000 square feet of office and 18,500 square feet of manufacturing, with additional office and manufacturing expansions to be phased in based on need,'' said Dan Hughes, real estate and development manager for Uponor North America.
Uponor Wirsbo extrudes PEX pipe for plumbing, fire sprinkler and hydronic radiant floor heating systems. Its new manufacturing bay will hold several extrusion lines, officials said.
``We keep outgrowing everything,'' Hughes said in a Sept. 13 telephone interview. ``It's been a challenge to stay ahead of demand for product and space for added headcount. The 10-year plan is intended to give us a flexible plan that will keep us ahead of those challenges.''
The extruder will consolidate corporate employees from leased office space in the Apple Valley area, according to Hughes.
The expansion is Uponor's fifth in Apple Valley. The office space will be added to 24,000 square feet of current space and 5,000 square feet of training space; the firm currently has 102,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and it projects growth to more than 370 employees in 2006.
The company operates one other facility, in St. John, New Brunswick.
Wirsbo is owned by Uponor Oyj of Vantaa, Finland.
More than 2 billion feet of Uponor Wirsbo's PEX tubing is in service in North America, the company said.