December 19, 2007 -- A Madera manufacturer of industrial cooling towers is expanding its operation and adding 30 to 40 jobs over the next two to three years.
Evapco West at 1900 Almond Ave. is adding a 49,000-square-foot manufacturing building and about 160,000 square feet of concrete and asphalt storage and parking areas.
The company, a division of Evapco Inc. in Taneytown, Md., also will add production offices, truck-loading docks and manufacturing equipment.
"We are absolutely supportive of their efforts to grow," said Bobby Kahn, executive director of the Madera County Economic Development Commission. "Creating jobs through an employer that is already here is one of the most efficient methods of economic development."
Company officials expect to complete the project by May.
Evapco employs about 175 full-time workers in Madera whose salaries range from $10.50 to $21 an hour.
Officials plan to add workers as the plant increases its production of cooling and condensing towers used for, among other things, cooling steam generated from boilers.
General Manager Steve Levake said the company's growth is driven by its commercial and industrial clients, which run the gamut from the National Aquarium in Baltimore to Arco Arena in Sacramento.
"This project will allow Evapco West to meet the future manufacturing demands for its products throughout the western United States, Mexico and Canada," Levake said.
As part of the project, Evapco West is seeking up to $7.5 million in federal tax-exempt industrial development bonds through the California Department of Enterprise Authority in Sacramento.
Paula Connors, executive director of the enterprise authority, said the bonds can be a valuable financing tool for small to midsize manufacturers seeking low-interest financing.
"This is about expanding job creation opportunities," Connors said.
Although the process can take months, Connors said, a company could potentially save millions of dollars: "And that is money that could be plowed back in so that the company can continue to grow and keep hiring."
Source: The Fresno Bee (MCT)
