Loren Cook Co. to double north plant

More room
Loren Cook Co. broke ground March 30 for expansion at its 2707 N. Barnes plant.
Executive Vice President Steve Burney said the project will double the 170,000-square-foot facility. The industrial fan manufacturer’s original campus at 2015 E. Dale will not close upon the project’s completion, he said.
“We’ll always have the two campuses,” added Jerry Cook, president and owner.
The company moved part of its manufacturing operation to the 40-acre Barnes location in 2000.
“That will give us 340,000 square feet on that site, then on our site here on East Dale Street, we have approximately 400,000 square feet,” Cook said. “When everything is said and done here, toward the end of the year, we’ll have close to 750,000 square feet under roof. Another way to look at it, you’re looking at somewhere over 17 acres under roof.”
Using local contractors is important to Cook.
“Everybody is (from) Springfield,” he said. “It’s the only way I’d have it. We’ve got excellent people here.”
Cook said that Pellham Phillips Architects and Engineers is the architect, Morelock-Ross is the general contractor, Kennedy Contractors is doing excavation, Sechler Electric Inc. is the electrical engineer, and Connelly Plumbing Co. is doing plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

New product offerings
The extra square footage, Burney said, will provide room for additional products, which are also part of the air-moving industry.
“We’re trying to develop new products all the time because if you want to grow your business, that’s the only way you can do it,” Cook said.
Loren Cook Co. now manufactures about 138 product lines of ventilation equipment used in the industrial and commercial markets, Cook said.
The company’s plans for expansion don’t stop with the project on Barnes.
Cook said that the company anticipates starting construction at the East Dale facility in April.

The sound factor
“What we need is a sound lab because sound is becoming more and more important,” he said, adding that engineers are requesting quieter air-moving equipment. “Schools, hospitals, operating rooms, restaurants, you name it. They want it quiet. Conference rooms, classrooms, whatever. That’s critical.”
The sound lab will be an addition to the company’s engineering department on Dale.
Cook estimates the two expansion projects will cost about $10 million – $5 million for the building expansion on Barnes, $1 million for the sound lab expansion on Dale, $1.5 million to purchase new equipment for both buildings now, and “another $2.5 million for equipment after we get in and situated.”

Workers
Loren Cook Co. employs about 700 full-time workers, Cook said, and more workers will probably be needed once the two expansion projects are complete.
“It remains to be seen how many people we’ll be adding, but we will be. We have to get the products out there first and see how it goes,” Cook said.
A move-in date for the Barnes location has not been set. Cook estimates construction at the Barnes location will take about nine months.
“We’ll have to rearrange our production flows and all that (before moving), so that will be up into next year, then we’ve got a lot of new development going on in our engineering department that won’t hit production until next year,” he said.
“I came here in August of 1964 and we had 17,500 square feet on three acres. So we’ve gone from 17,500 (square feet) to 740,000-something (square feet), and from three acres to 60 acres, but it’s taken 41 years to do it,” Cook said. “You’ve got to have patience in this business.”