Link Mfg., a specialty-engineered suspensions maker, will begin construction on a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and training facility today.
The company acquired Hadley earlier this month, a supplier that serves the RV and specialty vehicle markets, sparking Link’s Iowa facility expansion and allowing the company to take on new product sectors.
“This is the beginning of a new chapter in Link’s 41-year history, made even more economically impactful to our city, state and industry through our recent Hadley acquisition,” Link’s President Jim Huls said. “The contemporary new space will enable the company to better manage its suspension, suspension control and specialty products business, and anticipated growth across new and existing product sectors. And the integrated training facility will help us to provide continuing education to our existing workforce, and educate new staff on the latest in today’s high-tech manufacturing techniques.”
Link’s new Plant 4 facility will be located on the company’s Sioux Center campus in Iowa, adjacent to its existing Plant 3 building. Sioux County’s mayor, local media and plant workers joined company officials to ceremonially break ground, starting a construction process expected to see completion in December this year.
Huls noted the new space will allow Link to add and reconfigure manufacturing cells to accommodate the company’s new, broader product line. The Plant 4 space will help the company as it “turns more and more of its attention” toward engineering and manufacturing suspension control technologies.
“Link’s recent acquisition of Hadley SmartValve Electronic Height Control Systems, Smart Air Management Systems (SAMS), dynamic air suspension control technology and expert staff, significantly expands Link’s capabilities, increases its overall product depth and will stimulate the development of new innovations, while enhancing the company’s electrical engineering and software development capabilities,” Huls said. “Link now moves into the whole-vehicle suspension control segment of the heavy truck market, extending its reach into medium- and heavy-duty truck, tractor, trailer, motorcoach, transit bus, shuttle bus, RV and specialty vehicle markets.”
In addition to its Sioux Center headquarters, Link operates engineering and manufacturing facilities in Nisku of Alberta, Canada. The company employs more than 200 staff members. The Plant 4 expansion is expected to result in hiring up to 50 more workers.
