Export demand powers Northstar Battery expansion

The lead-acid battery manufacturer broke ground in May on a 308,000-square-foot plant situated on 33.54 acres at 1320 N. Alliance Ave. in Partnership Industrial Center West. The project follows quickly on the heels of a 52,000-square-foot, $3 million addition that wrapped up earlier this year at the company’s 4000 Continental Way facility in Partnership Industrial Center.

Enhanced Enterprise Zone tax credits are offered to Missouri businesses that are expanding in locations designated by the local government and the DED as areas that could create sustainable jobs in a targeted industry and impact local cluster development, according to a DED release.

In Northstar’s case, the tax credits are in exchange for new investment of $60 million at PIC West – though Plant Manager Tim Collins would not disclose the exact project cost.

A building permit on file with the city of Springfield lists the estimated construction cost at $12 million.

Walton Construction is the general contractor for the facility. Marshall-Waters-Woody and Associates Inc. is the architect, and Smith-Goth Engineers Inc. is the project engineer.

Tim Caldwell, who will serve as manager of the new plant, said Northstar should be ready to start ramping up to full production at the facility by April. The plant will about double Northstar’s local employment by adding a little more than 400 workers, paid an average wage of $28,000 annually, according to the release.

The nature of the new jobs will primarily be in production, with others in maintenance and engineering, similar to positions at the existing plant, Collins said. The new facility offers more capacity, and it opens doors to possible product line additions down the road.

“There’s a lot of opportunities out there, and we’re only serving a very small portion of the market,” Collins said. “We’re gaining market share, but we’re also looking at expanding into other products. We’re going to still continue making lead-acid batteries, but there’s many, many applications where we can grow into,” he added, declining to name any specific products.

The fevered expansion in recent years is a far cry from Northstar’s beginnings. Founded in 2000 by a small group of investors, Northstar was slow to take off because of a waning telecommunications industry – the sector that the company primarily serves. Now, the demand is on the climb, Caldwell said.

“You look at these Third World countries and they have no infrastructure to put in landlines, and plus the cost of that is so expensive,” he said. “Cell (service) is the way to go in places like that. That’s kind of what’s driving everything.”

Caldwell estimates Northstar exports between 50 percent and 60 percent of its batteries to more than 100 countries. The company also has hubs in about 20 nations, including Sweden and China.

Despite its global reach, Northstar chose to add a second facility in Springfield after considering “quite a few” sites in other states and countries, Collins said.

The city is “a great town for manufacturing,” he said, citing accessibility and the work force.