TUPELO, Miss.—Foamcraft Inc. plans on bolstering its operation with the addition of a second plant in Tupelo.
A fabricator of polyurethane foam insulation products, the company will spend about $1.34 million on the addition.
About 40 more employees are expected to be added at the facility and, according to Sales Manager Rob Hensley, new foam cutting and gluing equipment is being purchased and will be installed at the new site.
Its newest factory spans about 115,000 square feet and is located across from the company's 75,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and production facility, which Hensley said will be retained. It has a work force of about 75.
Foamcraft is in the process of refurbishing the new building, he said, “and we hope to start producing polyurethane foam products there in January.”
The Mississippi Development Authority provided assistance in support of the project, primarily to modify the firm's existing dock facilities.
Foamcraft is expanding to keep up with customer demand, according to President Jim Hensley, Rob Hensley's father and founder of the company in 1985. “As many of our customers have expanded in recent months, so must we.”
He said the addition of another facility not only will allow the firm to meet increased production demands but also continue to keep it on a growth plan put into motion in 2011.
As customers were increasing their requests for more foam products, Rob Hensley said, the company was running out of space at its plant. Then, he said, the firm that occupied the factory across from Foamcraft's operation opted to vacate and sell the building.
“That was very fortunate,” he said, “because it's the perfect location for us.”
He noted that Foamcraft doesn't manufacture polyurethane. “We buy it and fabricate it into products. A lot of times we work with thousands of small parts.”
About 90 percent of the company's goods are for furniture makers, with most of the remainder earmarked for the medical sector.
“There's been as lot of expansion in the furniture market in northern Mississippi,” Rob Hensley said.