Apache ponders expansion options
Apache Inc. is considering a $7.5 million expansion to its facility in Cedar Rapids that, if built, would preserve nearly 30 existing jobs in Iowa’s Creative Corridor and create 15 new ones.
The company is a fabricator and wholesale distributor of fabricated belting products, hose products, cut and molded rubber, and industrial consumer products
The Cedar Rapids City Council will consider sponsorship of a state financial assistance application for the company to add 90,000 square feet of production space to its facility. Financial assistance will primarily come in the form of Tax Increment Financing.
The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance assisted in preparation of the state application that will be sent to the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Pending approval of state and local financial assistance, and final decision of Apache, building construction would begin in April 2015, with the estimated completion by year end.
Apache currently employs 315 people, including 139 in its Cedar Rapids headquarters. Founded in 1963 in Cedar Rapids, the company changed its ownership structure in 1985 to an ESOP and is 100 percent employee-owned today.
Formerly operating as Apache Hose and Belting, Apache Inc. has grown to more than $100 million in revenue with six locations across the United States. Products are sold across industries including: agriculture, recycling, mining, hydro, food, chemical, and others. Apache and its subsidiaries serve customers throughout North and South America, in addition to Europe.
“This is a tremendously exciting time for Apache. Our team has executed a strategy over the past six to eight years that has put us in a position to make this expansion necessary,” said Tom Pientok, Apache’s president and CEO. “We are very passionate about the communities we are located in, and excited to be able to grow in the city where Apache got its start.”
Dee Baird, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance, says to have one of the Creative Corridor’s local employers make such a significant investment is a tremendous show of confidence in the region. “Apache is a strong community partner and we are happy to assist in advancing their growth goals and the new jobs that it will bring to the Corridor,” Baird says.
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