Wabash National has acquired for $3 million the just-shuttered Larson Boat plant in Little Falls, Minn., and says it will invest $11 million to renovate and equip the plant on a vast 53-acre site on the Mississippi River, with plenty of room for expansion, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Wabash has pledged to employ 70 by 2019 and 100 or more within five years. Workers will make the company’s next-generation molded structural composite interiors for refrigerated and other trailers.
Mayor Greg Zylka said Wabash has been more optimistic in private about its expansion and hiring plans for a workforce that will start at $18.18 per hour, a good wage in Morrison County, plus health benefits, vacation and a 401(k) retirement plan.
“They are a large company with financial backing, and I believe there are vendors who will follow them here eventually,” Zylka said. “They were conservative in saying they’ll hire 50 to 75 in the first year or so.”
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