STERLING – P&P Industries of Morrison is expanding into a new 96,000-square-foot plant it will build on 13 acres in Sterling’s Meadowlands Business Park, officials announced.

Construction is scheduled to begin in July and be completed by January, according to a news release. The new facility will have room to expand to up to 160,000 square feet.

The estimated cost of the move will be $3 million to $4 million, sales manager Kyle Milan said Sunday. P&P has 65 employees; 15 will be added in the first quarter of 2012, he said.

P&P, 14729 Spring Valley Road, is a custom injection mold and parts maker, primarily for John Deere, and has been in business in Morrison since 1970.

Growth has been good, and it needs more space, Milan said in the release.

“Over the past 12 months, P&P Industries has increased their work force by 15 percent, including the addition of some key positions,” Tony Nardi, vice president of operations, said in the release. “We will continue to grow bringing new employment opportunities to the Whiteside County area.”

In fact, the company is planning for growth.

“I can see us going from 65 to 120 employees in the next 5 years,” Milan said. “It’s not just going to be production-type workers. There are going to be additional opportunities.”

Once the plant is built, the move “will take place over a period of 6 to 9 months to ensure our operations continue uninterrupted and we can continue to run production on our 24/7 schedule,” Nardi said.

P&P considered staying in Morrison but couldn’t find enough space. It could have added on to its existing 75,000-square-foot property in the short term, but expanding to 160,000 square feet would not have been possible, Milan said.

No land was available in the Morrison Industrial Park, and it did not have sewer or water hookups, he added.

“Given our current growth plans and limited available land at our Spring Valley location, we determined a new facility was necessary.”

The move will affect Morrison and Sterling.

“We are essentially not only taking tax money, but also taking spending money [from Morrison],” Milan said. “It will be a hit to Morrison’s economy.”

At the same time, it’s good news for Sterling. “It will bring additional job opportunities to the area, especially with the closing of the National building,” Milan said.

Heather Sotelo, executive director of the Greater Sterling Development Corp., said her organization is “extremely pleased” to welcome P&P to Sterling.

“They have had a successful business in the past and we are proud to welcome them to Sterling for their expansion and future growth,” Sotelo said in the release.

About P&P

P&P Industries ... specializes in making precision, custom-made parts—using engineered and commodity-grade plastics — for many different industries.

Although P&P has produced parts for the consumer, electrical, and dispensing systems markets, its main claim to fame is its relationship to John Deere, the giant maker of agricultural machinery and equipment. P&P manufactures numerous complex parts for Deere, and has received numerous awards from the OEM for its dedication to high quality and dependable service.

"We make a large variety of parts for the agricultural markets, and we do a lot of work for John Deere harvesting and seeding equipment," P&P Industries Sales Manager Kyle Milan said in an interview.

"We also make some of the GPS housings, vacuum chamber parts, canister heads for hopper systems, and boom wear plates. We also do insert molding for Deere, where we'll put metal parts into the molds.

There are also four other agricultural equipment companies that we make parts and components for—both large and small parts."

Source: www.ppind.com