Apache to expand Cedar Rapids headquarters, plant
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—Apache Inc. plans to expand its Cedar Rapids headquarters and plant another 90,000 square feet to boost its capacity and capabilities.
Cost of the project, which includes the addition of more machinery, was estimated at about $7.5 million by Tom Pientok, Apache president and CEO. The expansion almost doubles the size of the 100,000-sq.-ft. factory.
He said the majority of the investment will be used to cover the actual expansion, with a sizable amount earmarked for the new equipment.
The expansion will preserve nearly 30 jobs and add another 15 to the company's work force of about 139 at the facility. It employs 315 at six locations spread across the U.S.
A fabricator and distributor of belts, hose, die-cut and molded rubber products, and industrial consumer goods, the employee owned company also manufactures industrial grade seals and molded rubber products at its Portland, Ore., plant.
Apache, founded in Cedar Rapids in 1963, expects to begin construction of the addition in April with plans to complete the project by year-end, Pientok said.
“This is a tremendously exciting time for Apache,” he said. “Our team has executed a strategy over the past six to eight years that has put us in a position to make the expansion necessary. We are very passionate about the communities we are located in and excited to be able to grow in the city where Apache got its start.”
Apache needed to expand, according to Pientok, to accommodate increased growth during the last several years. “As we continued to acquire companies, we've grown. Now we're expanding because of the need for greater capacity and our increased capabilities.”
Pientok said the Cedar Rapids facility is the largest operated by the company and, in addition to the firm's headquarters, is used to fabricate and distribute hose and heavy duty conveyor belts. “We also produce cut rubber and plastic parts, which is a growing part of our business, at the plant.”
Once it completes the expansion, he said, the factory will be four times larger than any of the company's other sites.
Apache will receive state and local financial assistance to help fund the project. The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance played a key role in helping the firm obtain approval for assistance from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the company said.
Local and state agencies did not say how much assistance they will provide, but the company said it was in the form of tax increment financing.
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