A maker of indoor air quality products expects to bolster its workforce at a southern Wisconsin facility by more than 50% in coming years.
Research Products Corp., based in Madison, Wisconsin, broke ground this week on an expansion of its manufacturing plant in Poynette. The project is expected to add 100,000 square feet of storage and manufacturing space for Aprilaire products by February 2020.
Company officials told the Portage Daily Register that RPC expects to hire at least 20 new employees each year through 2024, expanding its current workforce of 175 by some 100 positions.
Although the initial jobs will primarily be in distribution — the project will enable all warehousing to be located in Poynette — most will ultimately be in manufacturing operations. Some 40,000 square feet of the expansion will accommodate assembly, officials told the paper.
The facility, established in 1960, makes 1,100 different products and ships more than 5 million boxes annually.
“We don’t make the furnace, but anything else that would go on your HVAC system, whether the humidifier, dehumidifier, or fresh-air ventilator, we make that suite of products,” Aprilaire Vice President of Manufacturing Jeff Schmoeger told the Daily Register.
The company saw sales growth of 10 to 20% each year over the past five years — a pace likely to increase following the expansion.