Waupaca Foundry opens

By STEVE NEWMAN

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Ironwood - On Thursday, Waupaca Foundry held a ribbon-cutting for the opening of their seventh manufacturing facility, and the first in this area, in the Ironwood Industrial Park. A host of dignitaries attended the event, which celebrated the cooperation of area, city and state entities along with management at Waupaca to bring the plant here.

The facility represents an investment of $4.3 million and will create 61 new jobs, 42 of which are already working on site. As a result of the expansion, Waupaca Foundry was awarded a $1.2 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Waupaca Foundry employs 4,500 employees at seven locations throughout the United States.

The ribbon-cutting was highlighted by words from Waupaca CEO Mike Nikolai and VP of Marketing/Sales/Supply Chain John Wiesbrock. Wiesbrock stated that the company came to Ironwood, because "like many manufacturers, we started to feel the effects of a full labor market and Baby Boomers retiring. So we started a path to explore locations with high quality, available pool of labor and ended up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan."

According to Jim Luedtke, chief operating officer of Superior Waters of Marenisco, Waupaca first took notice of the area by word-of-mouth "neighbor-to-neighbor" contact. An investor in Superior Waters met a member of Waupaca management by chance and told him of the abundance of workers available in the area, even before the closing of the Ojibway Correctional Facility in the area. Waupaca took notice and began to investigate.

Waupaca found quick and willing help to make the possibility of a plant happen. "What brought Waupaca Foundry to Ironwood was the community responsiveness, support from MEDC, and the existing building (which was acquired in December 2018)-because we quickly realized that locating a finishing plant in Ironwood could be done rapidly," Wiesbrock said.

Waupaca ended up moving into the building located at 1760 Liberty Avenue, which was originally built in the industrial park as a "speculation building" to attract future businesses, according to Ironwood city manager Scott Erickson. According to city assessor Dennis Hewitt, the building was built in 2003 with grant funding and was owned by another business before being purchased by Waupaca.

Erickson was enthusiastic about the words by Waupaca management touting possible future continued expansion of the company and their desire to "grow in our area." He stated that the company should be "great for our area" and that they are a "really solid company." He also believes other businesses in the area will have "spin-off" growth from the company.

According to Ironwood Chamber of Commerce director Michael Meyer, the response of area workers to two winter job fairs held by Waupaca was a key in their investment. He stated that Waupaca expects to be fully staffed with workers "soon." While the company worked on getting the plant ready, they transported workers from the Ironwood area to their main Waupaca campus for 4-5 months to work 4 days a week. "Those workers made the sacrifice, and are very happy to be back home," he said.

The quick work of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help was also a key factor. The $1.2 million grant was impressive to the company, who had not worked with the state of Michigan before. MEDC officials joined legislators, congressional representatives, city officials and Waupaca leaders to celebrate their fruitful partnership and take a tour of the plant. Meyer said the tour was great because employees were at work and others could "see who works there."

Waupaca's unique culture has helped them grow. Meyer lauded Waupaca as a "close-knit, old-fashioned company" that seems to develop and promote their own employees, who tend to stay for a long time. Employees work two full-time 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and receive a full benefit package. Luedtke said Waupaca should be a "benefit to the whole area."

Local leaders are anxious to "tell the story" that Waupaca represents. Erickson said the company is "exactly the kind of business you want to attract." Waupaca officials have stated to him how pleased they are by the local work force and that employees have "exceeded expectations." Meyer stated that Waupaca finding the resources, infrastructure and workforce needed here makes him "want to tell their story to others - these are things that can help other companies as well."