Fairfield foundry Faircast sold, to become Hycast Foundry

FAIRFIELD – The foundry formerly known as Faircast is reopening under new ownership less than four months after it laid off its entire workforce on April 13.

The new foundry will be called Hycast Foundry, and run by the company Hycast LLC based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wendell Hunsacker, a member of the ownership group, said the sale of the building was finalized Thursday, Aug. 1. The following day, Hunsucker told The Union that the company will need to spend a few months cleaning the facility and making repairs before it could begin pouring molds.

The foundry is located at 905 W. Depot Ave., and had 88 employees at the time of its closure in April. Hunsucker said Hycast has already hired the foundry’s former maintenance manager and plant manager when it was under Faircast management. He said about a dozen people have been hired already, and another 7-8 will be hired in the next week.

START SMALL, PLAN TO GROW

When Hycast begins operations in a few months, Hunsucker expects to have a small crew of 25-30 people, but he hopes to grow that to 150-160 employees in three years.

“In our business, it takes time to build tools for customers,” Hunsucker said. “It’s going to be a slow process starting out.”

Hunsucker said he’s excited to get the plant up and running.

“It feels great to put hardworking people back to work manufacturing in the Midwest United States,” Hunsucker and business partner Andy Carroll stated in a news release. “We believe the collective expertise of our leadership team is prepared to handle the challenge of reestablishing a once-rich foundry tradition in Fairfield.”

Hunsucker said the operation of the foundry will be very similar to what Faircast was doing, and that he’s hoping to invest in new equipment with better technology. Hycast will use green sand automatic molding machines, and be able to pour all grades of gray, ductile, and compacted graphite iron to make raw and finished castings.

WHY FAIRFIELD?

Hunsucker said he learned of the former Faircast foundry for sale through one of his equipment manufacturers. After learning about the business over the phone, Hunsucker and others came from Ohio to visit the site in person, and met with Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer and Grow Fairfield Executive Director Ed Malloy.

“We’ve been welcomed very heartily by the community,” Hunsucker said.

Malloy said he and Boyer offered the representatives of Hycast LLC any help they could, such as connecting them to state incentives for job creators and how to get low-interest loans.

“They were very impressed with the community, and during their tour they noticed how much solar energy is being utilized by residents and businesses. They were impressed with that, and plan to add a solar field to their operation,” Malloy said.

Malloy said he’s glad to see the former Faircast building will continue providing vital manufacturing jobs and products.

“This has been a core part of our manufacturing portfolio in Fairfield for almost a century,” Malloy said. “We’re also very fortunate this happened within months of the closure of Faircast. Many communities could sit on a property like that for years before finding a suitable buyer.”

Hunsucker said they have hired a president to oversee the Fairfield plant, and his name is Dennis Michels. He lives in Wyoming and plans to move to the area. Hunsucker has worked in foundries ever since 1967 when he was in high school. He said the industry has been hurting for the last 50 years, and that America went from having 22,000 foundries at one time to having about 1,000 today. He said government overregulation of foundries in the 1970s hurt the industry, and in the ensuing decades, many firms moved their operations overseas.

“Now there is a sense that we should bring this work back home,” Hunsucker said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com