Uponor North America (Uponor) is expanding its manufacturing facility in Apple Valley, Minn. beginning late spring 2017, with completion expected by January 2018. The $17.4 million investment will be used toward the expansion of an additional 58,000 square feet to increase our manufacturing capacity to meet customer demand. This is the tenth expansion since Uponor began operations in Apple Valley in 1990. The most recent expansion took place in 2016 when the company invested $18 million and added 88,000 square feet to its manufacturing facility.
Uponor has also leased an 8,500-square-foot office and lab space in a building next to its manufacturing annex, which the company’s technology group will occupy beginning mid-May 2017.
New features in Mississauga include a training facility that will hold up to 50 attendees as well as a hands-on application lab. To complement the new venue and its traditional plumbing and radiant heating/cooling training classes, the new Canadian facility will begin offering engineering continuing education units (CEUs) beginning June 2.
Uponor’s North American headquarters are located in Apple Valley, Minn., and the company has a distribution center and resin-receiving facility located in nearby Lakeville, Minn. By year-end, the total Twin Cities metro area footprint will amount to 738,000 square feet, which is nearly 17 acres of facilities under roof.
The building expansion is required to meet forecasted growth for its crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing in plumbing, fire sprinkler, radiant heating and cooling and hydronic piping systems used in residential and commercial buildings. According to Gray, Uponor North America’s investments represent more than just a larger manufacturing footprint. The company created more than 100 new jobs last year in the Twin Cities and anticipate adding a significant number of jobs as a result of the manufacturing expansion — all of which contributes toward the economic development in the metro area.
Uponor’s decision to expand again in Apple Valley was partly due to the successful cooperation of both the State of Minnesota and the City of Apple Valley and their willingness to provide an attractive business climate for Uponor’s continued growth.
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