Announcing Workforce Additions and 40 Percent Increase in Factory Square Footage
We’re thrilled to announce our intent, pending permitting, to expand our two factories in Rhinelander, adding production capacity and team members to meet growing demand. The planned plant expansion begins later this year and will increase overall plant square footage by 40 percent across the two facilities.
Plant Expansion Details
The additional space will serve all aspects of operations, including new production equipment, more production cells or work centers, and increased storage space for inventory and material handling. The most recent expansion prior to this was the addition of the West plant in 2014, after expanding the North plant in 2012.
“This plant expansion represents hope and dedication to growth,” offers VP of Operations Keith White Jr. “It’s an investment in our customers, our community, and our people. We’re deeply committed to meeting demand, maintaining our high standards of quality and on-time delivery, and allowing great work-life balance for our colleagues. With the new space, we’ll be able to add capacity with a simple staggered shift, which means everyone still gets to go home for dinner. That’s really important to us.”
Now Hiring New Team Members
As an essential business, we stayed online and busy throughout the worst of the pandemic-related lockdowns in 2020. We have continued to grow despite the challenging economy and because of valued customers, trusted suppliers, and dedicated employee-owners. AirPro has been 100% employee-owned with an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) since 2016.
“Our ESOP model and consistent growth without significant turnover mean our retention rate is very high, yet we stay busy recruiting on a constant basis,” White explains. “We draw the best and brightest engineers, welders, machinists, and more from within the Northwoods region and beyond. This expansion will allow us to add even more skilled workers to our team of owners in the next year or two.”
Plant Expansion Timeline
We’re in the permitting stage for the build-out. In the meantime, we continue to expand our workforce and are currently recruiting for a number of open positions.
Founder and President Keith White Sr. emphasized, “Expansions come when you meet or exceed customer expectations. The formula for success is quite simple. Assembling a group of people who work together to achieve such a vision is a blessing. I am honored to be a part of such a group.”
Content Related to Plant Expansion
For more information on how we operate, check out these additional articles:
- Employee Ownership: Putting a Stake in the Ground
- Delivering the Goods in 2020
- Founders Message: Quality of Work, Quality of Life
We welcome comments and questions via our LinkedIn Page, and you can always Contact Us or Request a Quote for more details.