For the fourth time in the 1990s, Mattoon Precision Manufacturing Inc. is expanding. Construction is under way for a 35,000-square-foot addition on the south side of the Mattoon Precision Manufacturing Inc. (MPMI) plant off Old State Road on South 14th Street.

The addition, which brings total square footage to about 135,000, is expected to be complete by year's end, adding 40 employees.

That would bring Plant employment to about 160, up from 23 when the doors opened in 1990. "We have continuously expanded here," said plant General Manager Kirk Swensen. "Our motto is, 'Automate and expand."'

The expansion comes as MPMI adds contracts with existing customers and begins contracts with new customers. "That requires more floor space, more equipment and more manpower," Swenson said.

The company's corporate owners in Japan have two other similar facilities in the United States that also are continually expanding.

That comes from the boom in the automotive industry with production at maximum levels in many plants, Swensen said.

The Mattoon facility won several supplier awards, including top awards from the Mitsubishi auto assembly plant in Bloomington.

"We make good parts," Swensen said. "We've always felt like our niche was precision automotive parts."

The Mattoon facility is the first Enterprise Zone project put together by the Coles Together economic development organization. As the original real estate tax abatements are about to expire, the latest addition qualifies for new Enterprise Zone incentives.

The facility's Midwest location is "very advantageous, being centrally located with good shipping channels," a reasonable distance from several major auto assembly plants, Swensen said.

Mayor Wanda Ferguson said there was criticism when Mattoon Precision first received incentives to locate in Mattoon. "This company has done nothing but expand," Ferguson said. "They have reinvested here and reinvested here."

Swensen said he's also proud of the record the plant's employees have in giving back to the community. The investments and reinvestments in plant and equipment account for millions of dollars.

"It's been a great partnership," said Jeanne Gustafson, the executive director of Coles Together. "This company's been a real key to expansion in this area."

The new facility will be a separate building connected to the existing structure with an enclosed catwalk. The company added several new pieces of equipment in the last year.

Used with permission from Mid-Illinois Newspapers
Publishers of the Mattoon Journal Gazette and the Charleston Times-Courier

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Coles Together
400 Airport Road
Mattoon, Illinois 61938
(217) 258-5627 FAX (217) 235-9492