North Liberty, Iowa-based Centro Inc. is investing $6 million to expand in its home state with the purchase of a 30,000-square-foot building and two new rotational molding machines.
The new facility in Hampton, Iowa, about 130 miles from its headquarters, is expected to be fully operational by February 2023, Ty Windy, director of sales and marketing at Centro told Plastics News in an emailed statement.
"The Hampton facility provides additional capacity to support our rapidly growing custom business," Windy said.
The expansion also includes 30 new jobs. The company is hiring immediately and new employees will train and work at other Centro locations while the new facility is upgraded and machines are installed, a June 20 news release said.
"We placed orders for two new Ferry machines in May 2022," Windy added. "[The machines] are scheduled to arrive and begin installation this December."
"This expansion represents continued confidence in our markets and our future business prospects. This, our 11th location, is an exciting opportunity in Hampton, which is a terrific Midwest community," said Brian Olesen, Centro president and CEO. "I really couldn't be prouder of all Centro Associates that create opportunities for our business to grow through execution in a very challenging time."
Since 2021 Centro added eight rotational molding machines at its operations to support growing customer demand, the release said. The new Hampton location will be its eleventh facility.
Centro employs about 1,200 workers in in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Ireland and Brazil and designs and manufactures custom rotational molded product for manufacturers in as agriculture, construction, and lawn and garden market.
Centro is No. 6 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of North American rotomolders with an estimated $143 million in sales.