One of the largest manufacturing expansions the City of Wilton has seen in years is taking place at the JM Eagle Co., Inc. plant on the southwest edge of the community at 1314 W. 3rd Street.
General Manager Kevin Gute reports the company is driving a $9 million-plus five-level addition underway at the plant.
The company proudly makes an extensive range of premium, environmentally friendly plastic pipes that deliver exceptional performance for water and sewer systems.
“It’s just for our mixing operation,” Gute said of the giant 18,500 square foot building rising just north of his present plant, noting the plant now mixes about 3.5 million pounds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to make pipe.
He said the addition will allow the company to mix up to 13 million pounds annually, although he doesn’t expect that to happen “right off the bat.”
Gute said the present expansion is the first phase of the construction, which is expected to be ready by January 2025.
He said the second phase would include an expansion of the railroad spur at the plant to host eight cars, doubling in size.
Gute, who has been with the firm for over four decades, said the Los Angeles based firm won’t reveal why the expansion is taking place, since business was slower than normal in 2023.
However, he expects a large contract to be announced sometime in the future. He said construction on the project began mid-year in 2023 but had been talked about for the past two years.
President and CEO Walter Wang, who is described as an entrepenuer and philanthropist, is putting millions of dollars into the Wilton plant, which Gute said is presently one of the smaller of the 22 JM Eagle plants across North America.
“We have some plants that produce 30 million pounds a month,” he said.
Gute said the plant once used millions of pounds of the material which were shipped by rail to the facility, but that ended years ago when JM Eagle started making their own material.
The privately-held company is the world’s largest manufacturer of PVC pipe, with an estimated 1,600 employees.
The Wilton plant presently employs 32, but Gute said it’s likely more employees will be added with the expansion.
He said it takes a crew of two employees per mixer, which runs 24 hours a day, and is expected to at least double in size.
According to the company’s website, the company’s “commitment to innovation drives a continuous stream of sustainable solutions, meeting the diverse needs of our customers.”
General contractor Point Builders of Cedar Rapids is in charge of the expansion.
The new building will not replace any of the current structures on the Wilton JM Eagle campus, including the main 45,000 square foot building.
Along with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the company produces high-density polyethylene pipe for a variety of industries including utility, plumbing, electrical, natural gas, irrigation, potable water, drainage, and sewage.