The $24 million expansion of Excel Foundry & Machine has come to a successful — and speedy — conclusion.Officials at the specialty manufacturer of parts for mining operations announced not quite 1 1/2 years ago that they were going to add on a new 121,000-square-foot warehouse, a 16,000-square-foot additio...
he $24 million expansion of Excel Foundry & Machine has come to a successful — and speedy — conclusion.
Officials at the specialty manufacturer of parts for mining operations announced not quite 1 1/2 years ago that they were going to add on a new 121,000-square-foot warehouse, a 16,000-square-foot addition to their existing foundry, new office space, as well as purchase new, state-of-the-art equipment. The boost would allow them to ramp up production, hiring as many as 100 new employees.
Along the way, they got county, state and federal help expanding Wagonseller Road to be able to efficiently ship out their finished products. In the case of Excel, most of their product is exported.
“As we expanded over the years, the size of the products we were shipping out of the facility, the infrastructure really was inadequate,” company CEO Doug Parsons said, praising the multi-governmental effort to help his business — and others using the road — move goods more easily.
That business-friendly move drew kudos from both Republicans and Democrats over the last 18 months.
“This is a wise use of taxpayer dollars in infrastructure, not just for Excel but hopefully for future expansion up and down this roadway for like businesses,” U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, said last year as the $2.5 million roadway expansion was opened.
The concept behind the facility’s expansion was meant to enhance the interconnection between engineering, manufacturing, quality control, sales and marketing teams.
“I kind of had a concept of a Wall Street trading floor,” Parsons said, evoking the image of everyone being close to the thick of the action.
And the job expansion may not stop at 100, either. The company, which has nearly quintupled its staff in 15 years to 300 employees and increased its sales tenfold to $100 million, plans to continue hiring as it expands with the market.
“We’re really positioning well to take that next level of growth,” Parsons said. “... There’s no end, in my mind.”
The company will hold a public open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at its facility at 14665 Wagonseller Road — recently relabeled 1 Excel Way — to showcase the finished construction.
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