Clow Valve moves ahead with $75 million expansion
Feb. 22—OSKALOOSA — Waterworks manufacturing company Clow Valve got approval from the Oskaloosa City Council for their application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority High Quality Jobs Program and Tax Exemption as they go ahead with a $75 million expansion project at the company's Oskaloosa location.
Mark Willet, vice president and general manager of Clow Valve, presented the project to the council at their meeting Tuesday night.
"Ultimately, it's a redevelopment of the existing iron foundry," Willet says. "We'll retain a minimum of 439 jobs in the next five years. The estimated cost of construction is $68.5 million. The total cost of the project is approximately $75 million."
The project, which involves a 36,000 square-foot addition to the southwest side of the company's existing iron foundry, will be a part of the Iowa High Quality Jobs Program, which works to provide businesses with assistance to off-set the costs associated with building, relocating or expanding premises.
The expansion is being built to accommodate new manufacturing equipment that Clow Valve will be installing to replace outdated models, some of which are 30 and 45 years old. The installation process for the new equipment in the existing premises would cause the company to stall its work for more than a year. The expansion is being built so that the company can continue to operate while the installation takes place.
"This will be where the majority of our equipment is being installed, so we can continue to run," Willet says. "In the state of the economy that we're in right now, to be able to do this and shut down for what would be about a year and a half is something that we simply can't endure, so we need to construct a facility in which we can construct most of the new equipment."
Willet says the new equipment will include some items that are "100% automated robotic," and will allow the company to internalize their existing outsourced casting.
"It allows us to take control of our own destiny, and over the last two and a half years, being in control of your own destiny is extremely important," Willet says.
Willet told the council the new equipment will allow Clow Valve to produce twice as much product with its existing workforce as it is currently doing.
"If we had workforce available to us, we would have been in a much better position. So what we're doing with this replacement/expansion is adding a great new automation which will allow us to, rather than have to hire 60 people, we'll be able to hire 20 people to really ramp up our production," Willet says.
The project doesn't necessarily mean more jobs for the Oskaloosa area, but it helps the company to retain the existing jobs it has in the long run.
Councilman Bob Drost says the project shows Clow Valve's commitment to the Oskaloosa community.
"This is a huge commitment to our community," Drost said. "You don't spend $75 million in the town of Oskaloosa with any intention of leaving or pulling out, so just the fact that this is a major project to retain the workforce here — and again, workforce is an issue — I appreciate you looking at how you maintain operations moving forward, even with potential reduction in workforce and availability. Thanks for the commitment to our community."
Willet says that after gaining the council's approval, Clow Valve will be looking to "fast forward as quickly as possible" on construction.
The council unanimously approved the company's application.
Channing Rucks can be reached at crucks@oskyherald.com.
