ABOVE: Winnebago Manufacturing general manager Matt Pomranke stands by one of the large items that the company manufactures. They are expanding their factory space and will be adding more employees.

BLUE EARTH– The local area received some good news ahead of the holiday season when Winnebago Manufacturing shared information that they plan on expanding their plant and workforce in the coming year.

“One of the reasons for the expansion is that two of our largest customers are growing significantly,” office manager Janet Hassing said. “They also have told us they expect that growth to continue in the near future.”

Winnebago Manufacturing also received good news when they learned they were going to receive a $120,000 grant which they will use towards the expansion.

“The grant is through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development,” Hassing explains. “It is part of their JCF (Job Creation Fund) which provides financing to new and expanding businesses that meet certain job creation and capital investment targets.”

Winnebago Manufacturing plans to add the addition to its current facility located in Blue Earth’s West Industrial Park.

“One of the conditions of receiving the grant is that we expand our workforce by a minimum of six employees over the next two years,” Hassing adds. “We will be adding shop people, staff people and an inside sales person to our company.”

The plan is to break ground for the expansion during the spring of next year.

“It will be a 37,000 square foot addition. It is about a 50 percent addition to the current building,” Winnebago Manufacturing general manager Matt Pomranke says. “The new addition will have a combination of both old and new equipment. For instance, we have four plate rollers but currently we can only use two at a time. After the expansion we will have room to utilize all of the plate rollers.”

The building expansion will cost over $5 million and the company also has plans to purchase about $150,000 in new equipment.

“The extra space will also help improve working conditions and make things even safer for our workers,” Pomranke notes. “The addition will help us continue to meet our customer’s needs along with helping the local economy.”

The company currently has 44 employees with 41 of them being full-time.

“We are a job shop,” Pomranke says. “We make pieces which are used by other companies to make their product.”

The company has invested in many areas of the plant over the years including a new oven, paint booths, ring roller, torches, two plate rollers, a new break press and a vertical mill, just to name a few.

“Many of these investments were for safety reasons,” Pomranke comments. “We also have updated our air filtration systems.”

The company is ISO certified meaning it meets international standards for quality, efficiency along with meeting safety and environment requirements which are verified by an independent body.

Winnebago Manufacturing has provided products for a wide variety of industries throughout its history including agriculture, power generation, construction, mining, food service, foundry, transportation, commercial and the military.

The company’s history dates back to 1950 when Fred Hicks opened Hicks Repair in downtown Winnebago.

Cecil Jones, Ray Stifimer and Al Thisius purchased the company from Hicks in 1957 and changed the name to Winnebago Manufacturing.

In 1986, the ownership was taken over by the husbands of Cecil Jones’ daughters (Tom Richards and Lyle Jacobson).

The company moved to Blue Earth in 1987 in the building originally built by Holly Park Homes in the 1970s. During the 1990s the company began doing less farm repair and moved to more OEM and job shop work.

Bob Preston and Daryle Pomranke and a third party purchased the company in 1999. At the time, Pomranke was the president and Preston was the vice president and sales manager.

In 2004, Pomranke and Preston purchased the third-party shares.

Daryl Pomranke purchased Preston’s shares in 2012 and is now the sole owner of the company.

“We are looking forward to this expansion,” Matt Pomranke concludes. “We feel it is important to invest in the company and the community.”