Springfield-based polyethylene pipe manufacturer United Poly Systems LLC plans to break ground this week on a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Minot, N.D.
Owners Jim Massengale and Bert Bridges said they’ve always wanted to build a production facility in North Dakota and now the time is right.
“Really, since before we began here, it has been part of our business plan to expand in that region,” Bridges said of the company established in March 2011 by the owners who together brought more than 40 years of industry operations and sales experience to the venture.
The company’s Springfield production facility is located in the Partnership Industrial Center at 4707 E. Kearney St.
“One of the reasons we started here first is both of our families are here, so we stuck local, but our intentions have always been to get out into the Dakotas,” Massengale said.
Massengale said he expects that by the end of the week the company will begin construction on its second manufacturing facility, which they said should cost between $5 million and $6 million between construction and equipment.
“It’ll be very similar to what we’ve got here in Springfield,” Massengale said.
The investment, the partners said, should help generate $25 million to $30 million in annual revenue once the production facility is up and running. They said construction is expected to be complete in six months.
“Specifically, what attracted us there was the oil and gas industry,” Bridges said. “The Bakken shale up there is producing quite a bit of oil and gas. However, we supply a lot of products into the Dakotas as it is for infrastructure – power, utility, electrical, telecommunications – but the oil and gas is really what’s driving us there.”
While construction of the Keystone Pipeline has garnered much speculation during the last couple of years, the owners said that is not what’s prompted the construction of the company’s second location.
“The products we supply wouldn’t go across states like the Keystone would,” Bridges said. “Oil and gas is probably stronger there than anywhere in the country right now.”
Once complete, Massengale said the new facility should be home to 35 to 50 new employees within 18 months.
Notable clients for United Poly Systems include oil companies such as Whiting Petroleum Corp. and Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) and distributors such as Dakota Supply Group and Graybar.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
