Waukesha Bearings Plans Expansion

A linchpin of Antigo industry is planning a major expansion.

The Antigo City Plan Commission has approved a preliminary site plan for Waukesha Bearings Corp. to expand its plant at 703 Amron Avenue, the heart of the northside industrial park.

According to Mark Desotell, the city’s director of administrative services, the first stage of the expansive project will be a 1,500 square foot addition to the northwest corner of the facility.

That will house the shipping and receiving operations that will be disrupted when the second, much larger project gets underway a few weeks later.

That work, slated to the south of the existing facility will add 35,000 square feet of manufacturing area.

“Our understanding is these projects will start as soon as weather permits and will be completed this year,” Desotell said.

The administrator added that anytime an existing manufacturer makes a major commitment, it bodes well for its long-term future in the community.

“It will enable them to extend current commitments into multiple years.” Desotell said, noting there he expects a modest increase in employment opportunities “with the potential for more growth in the future.”

As part of the expansion, the city will extend its water main and sanitary sewer lines from Progress Boulevard to the south property line. It will also relocate hydrants in the area and reconstruct 200 feet of the boulevard.

“As soon as weather permits we’ll begin on that project,” Desotell said. “We need to coordinate our construction schedules.”

In the longer range, the city plans to apply for additional funding through the Department of Transportation TEA grant program, which would focus on rebuilding Bridge Street from Clermont Street east to the Waukesha Bearings’ property line.

The city is also applying for a $1 million grant for stormwater system improvements across the industrial park, with a goal of sending the drainage into Remington Pond to the southwest. If funding is available, that utility work could take place in 2020.

Krista Betts, marketing communications manager for Dover Precision Components, the parent company of Waukesha Bearings, said the company would make a formal announcement on its expansion plans at a later date.

Founded in Wisconsin in 1946, Waukesha Bearings is a leading designer and manufacturer of engineered hydrodynamic bearings, active magnetic bearing systems and seals for high-performing turbomachinery in oil and gas, power generation, marine and industrial markets.

Its designs address the needs of everything from large-frame turbomachinery to small, high-speed turbochargers, electric submersible pumps to subsea pumping equipment, compressors to gearboxes.

Waukesha Bearings today maintains facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, and China, as well as localized sales representation around the world.

Waukesha Bearings became an operating company of Dover in 1977 and is part of Dover Precision Components, an integrated provider of performance-critical solutions for rotating and reciprocating machinery.

Source: Antigo Daily Journal