Since 1971, pipe and conduit maker Dura-Line Corp. has grown from a $25 million company with one extrusion plant to a $700 million global operation with 20 manufacturing facilities, prompting a need to expand the office headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn.
Renovation plans to almost double the office space from 24,000 to 40,000 square feet to allow for more staff were announced June 8. Currently, both global corporate staff and U.S. business support staff are working on the same floor.
Dura-Line was a $60 million company when it moved its headquarters from Kentucky to Tennessee in 1996. The business has been a tenant of its current location in Knoxville since 2008. Last year's acquisition by Mexichem SAB de CV is driving the need for more employees and elbow room.
“Since we became part of a multi-billion-dollar global chemicals company, Mexichem, we have aggressive growth plans and are simply running out space,” Dura-Line President and CEO Paresh Chari said in a news release.
The expansion calls for an interior renovation of the floor Dura-Line occupies and an extension into another floor of the building. The work should be done in August. Then, Dura-Line will separate its global staff from its domestic staff and create a new expanded office for its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations.
Dura-Line serves the telecommunication, energy, transportation, wastewater and aquaculture markets. Chari said the business is committed to the Knoxville region.
“One of our U.S. manufacturing facilities is located in Erwin,” he added. “We also work closely with the University of Tennessee on various projects, including training our senior executives and middle management. We also hope to add a new Center of Excellence in East Tennessee for R&D and training in the Knoxville area.”
Mexichem is supporting Dura-Line's growth in the U.S. and abroad. A few weeks ago Dura-Line opened its fourth manufacturing plant in Hyderabad, India, to serve that country, the rest of Asia and the Pacific Rim. Dura-Line India makes high density polyethylene pipes and duct and exports about 25 percent of the products.
Chari said the expanded Knoxville office also will allow Mexichem to locate its back-office functions for its U.S. business in the same building.
Based in Mexico City, Mexichem reported a 9 percent sales increase to $1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2015 compared to the prior year period.
