CASCADE, Iowa — A Cascade manufacturing and lumber company is set to expand its storage space.
A new warehouse soon will provide more space for Cascade Lumber and Cascade Manufacturing Co. The warehouse, which is planned to be 60 feet by 100 feet, will be located east of the current lumberyard on First Avenue, near the former location of McDermott Oil and the current veterinary clinic.
“We’re starting it as soon as possible with permit in hand and hope to break ground as soon as next week,” said Tim Noonan, Cascade Manufacturing Co. president.
He said the warehouse can be completed in the next three or four months since the building doesn’t need a lot of “fancy finishes” to perform its function. A final cost estimate was not available.
The project is receiving financial support from the city.
City Council members this week unanimously approved the project being part of the city’s business incentive program. The program, which provides cash incentives, is meant to attract new businesses to the city and encourage existing businesses to expand.
Cascade Lumber will receive $20,000 over a five-year period once the warehouse is complete.
“Basically, they need more room for materials,” City Administrator Deanna McCusker told council members before their vote. “They’re talking about removing the old McDermott building. Right now, that’s storage, too, but it’s in poor condition.”
Noonan said there have been discussions about removing the old building, but putting up the warehouse would be a necessary first step so the company isn’t short on storage.
“We do store things in that building,” he said. “But it needs a lot of repairs, and it’s not worth repairing.”
The new warehouse will provide a climate-controlled space to store materials. Noonan said it will primarily house flooring products, but also some cabinetry products and other items. The spot also will be a place for the company to park carpet vans.
Adding the warehouse will free up space in the company’s steel truss manufacturing plant, a portion of which is currently used for storage space.
“Freeing up this space would hopefully create more first-shift jobs, which, hopefully, would be easier to fill, and then we wouldn’t have to rely so much on second shift,” he said.
While the number of potential new employees wasn’t determined, Noonan said five to 10 more people could fit in the space.
Noonan said the ability to add more employees also depends on the state of the industry.
“But it seems to be quite healthy these days,” he noted.