ST. LOUIS—Reed Rubber Products Inc., an extruder of thermoplastic rubber profiles, is moving for the second time in five years to handle the addition of a new production line.
The company, which serves the construction, automotive, HVAC and original equipment manufacturing markets, said it will invest $500,000 in the project and hike production capacity by about 20 percent.
Reed Rubber moved to its current location in 2008, just before the start of the economic downturn.
"The first 18 months were difficult," President Clark Reed said. "We didn't cut wages, but we asked some employees to work 30-hour weeks, so that no one would be laid off."
Sales fell more than 17 percent in 2009 but recovered by 2010, Reed said.
Two years later, thanks to acquiring new business primarily in automotive and transportation, sales had increased another 72 percent, the company said. The firm began renting storage space next door from Clark Logistics, an affiliate of its landlord, Union Seventy Center. Even so, there was not enough room to add more production equipment.