Marion manufacturers inch closer to opening

MARION - The new Hupp Electric facility is pretty quiet right now. There's the occasional whir of machinery as workers prepare the building for the 103-year-old, family-owned company's move from Cedar Rapids.

Hupp, which rebuilds electric motors used to power factories, says its shift to 500 57th St. is part of a much needed expansion. Kevin Hupp, the company's owner, said he hopes the larger facility will allow the company to extend its reach in motor repair and sales, engineering, machining and preventive maintenance.

'We were out of room at our other facility,” Hupp said.

The large motor room at the Marion facility will allow the company to work with motors over 100,000 pounds, a task not possible in Cedar Rapids because of height constraints.

'Everything is going to be bigger,” Hupp said. More space also will help the company operate better, he said.

The new 110,000 square-foot Hupp facility, which is expected to be 100 percent fully functional by April, is part of the old Kwik-Way Complex across from the Marion Enterprise Center. The city of Marion and Marion Economic Development Company, or MEDCO, launched the 184-acre center to attract companies in need of large pieces of land. It consists of 184 acres at the corner of Highways 151 and 13.

Legacy Manufacturing. which broke ground last year on its $10.4 million, 133.000-square-foot building, is one of the Marion Enterprise Center's first tenants. Legacy has been in Marion for more than 20 years and makes lubrication equipment, hoses, hose reels, pneumatic couplers and accessories. Matt Weems, president of Legacy, said the new space, which also will open in April, will allow the company to function properly. Legacy had been in the old Kwik-Way Complex since 1995.

'Our business has more than doubled,” Weems said. 'We needed the space that we could grow and not have to worry for the next 20 years what we are going to do.”

Another company at the Marion Enterprise Center, Elplast America, Inc., based in Poland, chose Marion for its North American headquarters. The $6 million, 30,000 square foot facility will begin operations in late November, according to CEO Chad Rupert. Elplast makes large press-to-close zipper bags.

Nick Glew, president of MEDCO, said the Marion Enterprise Center has made the city more competitive in attracting new businesses.

'Beforehand, we weren't able to be competitive. We were never in the game before,” he said, because Marion didn't have large land available for companies. 'If we didn't have this industrial park, Legacy probably would have been doing their project somewhere else.”