Local economy turns around

    There are local indicators that the economy is rebounding from the recession that began at the end of 2008. One of those is that Modine Manufacturing?s work force has doubled in the past year.

    Plant Manager Don Horner started in Modine in the summer of 2009. At that time, the company was going through a period of layoffs.

    ?We had about bottomed out by then,? he said.  

    In March 2010, Modine had 115 employees, down from its peak of about 280 workers several years prior. Beginning in April 2010, the company began a series of hires. Modine hired all year long and now boasts 269 employees. Horner said he expects to add a few more workers in 2011 and may even surpass the company?s previous high water level for employment.

    ?We?ll probably hit our peak again this spring or summer,? said Horner. ?We?ll have more workers than we?ve ever had, according to my crystal ball. I?m expecting the economy to do better this year, too.?

    How did this jump in work force happen? Horner said that the demand for his company?s products has increased since 2009. He said the company?s ?bread and butter? is charge air coolers for engines, but it also sells fuel coolers, oil coolers and other small heat transfer products.

    The Modine plant in Washington was the beneficiary of the bad fortune of a Modine plant closure in Logansport, Ind., in May. The Washington branch absorbed that plant?s production, which allowed it to increase its work force. Horner said the plant closure in Logansport is responsible for about half the increase in demand and employment at the Washington office. He said only one supervisor from Logansport was transferred to Washington and the rest of the hires have been local people.

    ?I don?t think we?ll see any wild swings in our work force in 2011,? said Horner. ?It should be pretty steady this year. We?ll be working every day.?

    Another manufacturer in town, Engineered Building Design (EBD), is also rebounding from the recession. General Manager Dave Mitchell said he had 70 employees at one time but had to lay a number of them off in fall 2008 and then a few more at the end of 2009. He hired a few workers last September and now has just shy of 50 employees.    

    Engineered Building Design produces roof and floor trusses, as well as panels and laminated beams. Mitchell said that business picked up in the fall because the weather was favorable for building.

    ?It rained once a week all year long,? said Mitchell, who added that the rain was not welcomed by those in the construction industry.

    ?In the fall, it didn?t rain, so contractors got some work done,? he said.

    Mitchell said that he has been able to provide for the local demand in building materials. He said EBD supplied the panelized walls, roof trusses and pre-fabricated steel for the new Pizza Ranch being built near Walmart. The roof trusses for the Mercy Medical Clinic building on South Iowa were supplied by EBG as well.

     ?It?s been a good year for building projections in Washington,? said Mitchell.

    Mitchell said that Iowa is poised for a rebound in the housing market.

    ?That market has been way down compared to what it was five years ago,? he said. ?As our economy continues to improve, housing will continue to improve, as well. We?re just concerned about the limited number of lots.?

    Washington isn?t the only town in the county that has turned the corner. Engineered Plastic Components in Kalona made several hires in 2010, according to Human Resources Manager Dan Kargarzadeh.

For more, see our Jan. 11 print edition.