Evco Plastics Inc. is expanding its manufacturing campus in Oshkosh, Wis., with plans to be fully operational by November 2023.

"The direction we're on, in the future for growth, we'll be working through these types of campuses," said Kate Bashir, vice president of strategy. "So adding buildings close to each other, to provide a more campus feel, should be what our future looks like. But we're excited to get the next one on the book."

The DeForest, Wis.-based company broke ground on two additions to its manufacturing campus in Oshkosh. The west-end addition will be a 106,957-square-foot facility, making it the company's 12th global facility. The 10,516-square-foot north-end addition will be connected to the existing 117,473-square-foot facility.

When the project is finished, the Oshkosh campus will cover a total of 247,473 square feet.

In total, the project will cost about $11 million.

"We are forecasting like a 25 percent increase in employment at this particular campus since 2020," said Marketing Director Anna Bartz. "So, we've seen a really nice uptick and the amount of people we're able to provide jobs for ... and this addition will only accelerate that growth from an employment perspective."

Evco Plastics focuses on injection molding and custom plastics and contract manufacturing. The west-end building, which the company calls OSH2, will primarily house contract manufacturing lines and storage space for molds and finished parts.

The addition of OSH2 brings the company up to 270 injection machines — including 25 in Oshkosh ranging from 85 to 4,400 tons of clamping force.

Bashir said adding these facilities was mandatory to meet customer needs. The facility will focus on contract manufacturing.

"We're constantly growing, looking at how we need to grow to provide opportunities for our team to grow their careers and move up through the company," Bashir said. "Additionally, we are assessing the needs and demands of our current customers, as well as a few new customers we're talking to."

Evco officials found themselves able to expand due to the diversity of customers and companies that they work with. They specifically noticed a demand in agricultural costumers, recreational products and industrial focus costumers.

With recovery continuing from the COVID-19 pandemic, Evco is still faced with challenges surrounding supply chains and the rising cost of goods.

"But we're working with our customers to work through that their demand is obviously still at all-time highs," Bashir said. "So, they are doing what they can to get products in-house. And we're trying to be a good partner to help do that."

This marks the company's second major expansion project since the pandemic. Last year, Evco purchased a building near Calhoun, Ga., to add white room and liquid silicone rubber molding capacity.

Evco ranked No. 44 in Plastics News' survey of North American injection molders, with sales in the region of $246 million. The company, which was PN's 2015 Processor of the Year, also has a plant in China.

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