MORRISON – Vegter Steel Fabrication will break ground November 7 on an estimated $2.5 million expansion project.
Vegter Steel was formed in Morrison in 2007, and the business has grown rapidly ever since. Owner Mike Vegter, a Morrison native, had been running another company, American Piping Group, in the Quad Cities, and now both businesses are based in his hometown.
“I moved back here when I started Vegter Steel as a subsidiary of American Piping, and so I decided to run both businesses out of the same complex,” Vegter said.
Vegter bought a 40-acre lot at 800 French Creek Road, just east of the city’s industrial park, and built a 20,000-square-foot facility. Vegter fabricates structural steel for commercial and industrial buildings.
As the business grew, more automated machinery was needed, and 9,000 square feet was added to the plant in 2013. The latest project will add 18,000 square feet more, needed to house a large structural steel beam blasting unit and automated conveying systems.
“The conveying systems will allow us to transfer steel throughout our facility without the use of cranes until it is ready to be fabricated,” Vegter said.
The latest addition also will include upgrades to the existing space. The use of more automated equipment will better streamline the production process but still create the need for more employees.
“Initially, the new addition will create three or four new shop positions, and when everything is revamped, we could add another three or four people,” Vegter said.
The company now has 27 employees – managers, estimators and shop workers – in Morrison and 40 field crew workers in Iowa.
Metals fabrication has been a sweet spot in the post-recession manufacturing recovery and many companies in the sector are putting some capital back into their businesses.
“Business has been good, so I decided this was a good time to make an investment in more space and machinery,” Vegter said.
Vegter’s return has added an important piece to Morrison’s economic base.
“It’s great to have him here in Morrison, and to see Vegter Steel busy and expanding,” City Administrator Barry Dykhuizen said.
Vegter Steel’s fabrication certification allows it to make steel for buildings up to 10 stories tall. The company ships its steel to eight Midwest states for projects that include corporate office buildings, schools, theaters, hotels, industrial plants and power plants.
Its parent company, American Piping Group, was founded in 1995. It is an industrial construction contractor that specializes in pipe fabrication and installation. Much of its business is done in the power generation, grain processing, chemical, meat processing, water and wastewater treatment markets.