Pullman Gets A Business Boost Schweitzer Engineering Plans Expansion At Industrial Park
From an office workshop in his basement to more than 40 acres and an industrial campus on the edge of Pullman, engineer Edmund Schweitzer keeps pushing his business to the next level.
On Monday, he announced plans to add 32 acres in the Port of Whitman County Industrial Park to the 8.5 acres his company, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), already owns. The company will pay about $30,000 an acre for the land.
SEL, which makes communications equipment for the electric power industry, has grown even faster than its founder imagined. Last year sales totaled $36.5 million. Sales this year are expected to exceed $44 million.
Four months ago, Schweitzer announced plans to hire 59 new workers in 1998. Since then, SEL has adjusted up to 74, bringing its total work force to 300.
And, Schweitzer guesses, SEL will need to hire another 60 employees to work in every area of the company in 1999.
One in three new hires are from Pullman, the company president said. But SEL isn’t having too much trouble finding workers to move here. “The response has been excellent - though I was a little concerned that it might be kind of slow going,” Schweitzer said.
Some of the new employees will spend their days in a new 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the 32-acre site. That building is scheduled to be completed by KIP Development and Construction next spring. The company already has four buildings, including a 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on its current property.
The new plant takes up only a small segment of the land purchase.
“The additional property is for the additional growth we anticipate,” Schweitzer said. “Though of course you can never be sure what tomorrow brings.”
The Port of Whitman County is pretty sure tomorrow will bring more business. “It’s a happy day for us,” said port commissioner Gerald Druffel. “We have been very pleased with the cooperation with SEL. From their inception (on port land), they have doubled in size, and with the transfer of this parcel of land they will more than redouble.”
He said sale of the land to SEL would enable the port to start developing another 30 acres nearby for other businesses.
“Think about the impact that this has on the community,” said Washington State University president Sam Smith. “Look at the growth and development we’ve had and a lot of it’s tied to SEL.”
SEL has 11 field offices in the United States and Canada and will also open a two-person office in Shanghai this month. Though it’s branching into the rest of the world, SEL plans to keep its base of operations in Eastern Washington.
“This kind of investment makes a significant commitment to stay right here,” Schweitzer said.
MORE JOBS Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories expects to add 74 new workers this year and 60 in 1999.