Officials of Marion Body Works, Inc. have signed an agreement with Consolidated Construction Co., Inc. to build a new headquarters and expand an existing manufacturing facility at their 211 W. Ramsdell Street location in Marion, Wisconsin.
Although actual site preparation and foundation work will commence immediately, an official groundbreaking ceremony date is set to take place on August 24 at 11 a.m., with officials from the City of Marion, Waupaca County, Marion Body Works and Consolidated Construction in attendance to turn the site’s dirt.
Marion Body Works, in business since 1905, manufactures fire & emergency apparatus, commercial truck bodies, aluminum custom cabs, custom engineered vehicles, and defense products for customers across the country. Purchased by V.R. “Bud” Simpson in 1980, Simpson’s son Jim and son-in law Curt Ignacio became co-presidents upon his retirement in 2003. Following Jim Simpson’s tragic death in an automobile accident in 2012, Ignacio’s wife, Nancy, and Jim Simpson’s widow, Lynne, now lead the company and together hold full company stock.
Today, Marion Body Works has more experience in all-aluminum product fabrication than any other U.S. manufacturer. As the largest employer in the city of Marion, located in northeast Waupaca County, the family-owned company currently employs over 230 people and seeks to continue earning its reputation as the area’s “employer of choice” with updated facilities that will attract top technical talent to the area.
The new Marion Body Works headquarters will feature corporate offices, a customer showroom, engineering and design in approximately 19,000 square feet of space. Architects with Consolidated Construction, a design-build firm located in Appleton, designed the building to reflect the products and personality of the company, as well as offer large overhead doors and space for access and display of heavy commercial vehicles.
On the same site, Marion Body Works will be adding on to their existing, 183,700-square-foot production and warehouse building with a 42,000-square-foot expansion.
“This is the largest building expansion in the company’s history,” said Curt Ignacio, CEO. “In addition to meeting our immediate space needs, this will secure that we’ve got the ability to meet customer requests that haven’t even been imagined yet. It’s going to ensure that every Marion Body Works product is manufactured right here in Marion.”
The project schedule calls for a May, 2016 completion date, and construction will be sequenced to allow Marion Body Works to continue their operations.