Encore Wire Corp. is more than doubling the size of its aluminum manufacturing facility in McKinney. A planned 250,000-square-foot addition will take the total size to 450,000 square feet. Along with other upgrades the company is making, Encore expects to spend $41 million to $46 million in capital improvements. It also plans to create 125 new jobs.
One of McKinney’s largest employers, Encore is marking its 25th year in business this year. The company was formed in 1989 with a dozen employees. Today it employs nearly 1,200.
Encore expects to complete work on its manufacturing facility by the end of the year. It’s the 10th expansion the McKinney Economic Development Corp. has supported.
“The partnership we have with the city has made us one of the top employers in McKinney, and we are thrilled to be able to provide more jobs for the community,” said Daniel Jones, president and CEO of Encore Wire Corp. “As the city continues to grow and expand so does Encore Wire, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for both of us.”
Here’s a full statement from Jones:
“Encore Wire has experienced steady growth throughout its history. In order to plan for our future and continue the long term growth of the company, we have continued to increase our product offerings to our existing customer base in the building wire category. In 2006, we opened a new armored cable plant, and in 2008, we opened a plant dedicated to the production of large tray cable. In 2012 we opened a new plant dedicated to the production of aluminum building wire. The aluminum building wire sales have exceeded our expectations, with gross sales totaling over $100 million in the last four quarters. With the demand for these products clearly exceeding our capacity, we have decided to go forward and expand the plant to accommodate increased production. This expansion will add an estimated 128 new jobs over the next couple of years.
We also strongly believe that our ability to offer aluminum building wire has helped to increase our copper building wire sales over the last two years. Over the trailing four quarters, our copper unit sales are up 13 percent over the previous four quarters. We believe that is due in some part to the fact we now also offer aluminum wire. We continue to believe that copper will be the conductor of choice in most building wire applications, but we will offer aluminum to those customers who want it. We will continue to canvass our independent manufacturer’s representatives and our electrical distributor customers, to determine what products they are purchasing that may make sense for us to produce and sell.
Our strong balance sheet enables us to expand capacity when strategic opportunities arise. We have ready access to the capital required to fund this project and we will be poised to take even greater advantage of future up swings in business. We will continue to manage the company for the long term and will make capital improvements to allow for sustained growth, while ensuring our balance sheet remains strong. We have no long term debt, and our revolving line of credit is paid down to zero. In addition, we have $19.1 million in cash as of June 30, 2014.”
