HUTCHINSON, MINN. — Uponor North America hosted a ribbon-cutting and plant tour on Oct. 11 to celebrate the grand opening of its newest expansion, a 237,000-square-foot facility located in Hutchinson, Minnesota.
The plant was completed earlier this year, six months ahead of schedule, and has already produced more than 30 million feet of PEX tubing, while adding more than 40 jobs in the community.
The tour of the Center for Technical Excellence immediately followed the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony featured speakers including Bill Gray, president of Uponor North America; Jon Sillerud, vice president of operations; Paul Jossart, senior manager of operations at Hutchinson; and Gary Forcier, mayor of Hutchinson.
“While this is our latest expansion, it is certainly not our last," Gray said. "We are grateful to Hutchinson and community leaders for their support. We look forward to remaining part of the community for years to come.”
Uponor North America first announced the $6.35 million investment in Hutchinson in July 2017 to support the company’s growing U.S. manufacturing operations. Hutchinson was an attractive location as it provided access to a large manufacturing workforce and the community showed strong support for Uponor.
“I would like to thank Uponor for choosing our town to come to," Forcier said. "We feel fortunate to have an upstanding company like Uponor come and be part of our community. We’re excited about the employment opportunities this brings and are looking forward to working with Uponor to continue to improve our community.”
At Hutchinson High School, guests toured the newly completed Center for Technical Excellence (CTE). The CTE is part of TigerPath, a skilled-workforce training program funded by 28 community partners, including Uponor.
"The strength of TigerPath lies within the strong, collaborative partnerships Hutchinson High School builds, maintains, and sustains with our local businesses and industries," said Robert Danneker, principal, Hutchinson High School. "Today, we celebrate Uponor and thank them immensely for their generous donation to TigerPath.”
To further celebrate Manufacturing Month, Uponor joined nearly 1,000 organizations to raise awareness about the value of water by participating in Imagine a Day Without Water on social media and welcomed 75 students from local schools to its Apple Valley facility. The students toured the plant and heard from a panel of experts on career opportunities in manufacturing.
Publication date: 10/26/2018
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