Mainebiz

V O L . X X I X N O. X X V I I I D E C E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 2 3 20 M A N U FAC T U R I N G F O C U S that we can easily scale right to produc- tion. So it facilitates a rapid ramp from concept to prototype to low-rate pro- duction, then into scaled production." e Defense Department, NASA and the commercial space industry are driving the company's growth. "Over the last five years we've more than doubled our capacity and just about doubled our workforce," said Forkapa. "We see that continuing. We're in sev- eral really strong market segments. And there's a really strong pull for the type of high-temperature materials we produce. at's continuing to evolve." e company declined to cite invest- ment into 20 Morin St. Financing for renovations and fit-up will be through a mix of internally funded capital expendi- ture and contract revenue. Auburn Manufacturing ramps up production and hiring B Y R E N E E C O R D E S Auburn Manufacturing Inc., a Mechanic Falls-based maker of heat- resistant high-performance textiles, is ramping up production – and hiring – amid strong demand from defense and industrial customers. "We've never had a backlog like this, and it doesn't seem to go down," says Kathie Leonard, the company's president and CEO. Leonard, who co-founded the company in 1979, was honored as a Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year in 2018. e company, which has a sec- ond manufacturing plant in Auburn, currently has 60 employees and three temporary workers on the payroll– the highest-ever workforce total, accord- ing to Leonard. Auburn Manufacturing makes materials that are used in the transportation sector, including auto, rail, air, marine and specialized vehicles from snowmobiles to race cars. e company also produces plain, coated, aluminized and fabricated textile products, including blankets and specialty gaskets, that meet strict military and industrial testing and certification requirements. Amid growing demand from exist- ing clients and a planned aerospace project, Auburn Manufacturing aims to expand operations at its Auburn plant next summer. "We are still trying to figure out how much space we need for equip- ment," Leonard says. "is isn't just looms, but it's a lot of other materials we have to put in there like liquids and water, so we need quite a bit more space," somewhere between 7,500 and 10,000 additional square feet. e company also expects to keep hiring and expects to be at 70 to 75 employees in the next year or two. Leonard said that while hir- ing was difficult earlier this year, the climate has improved. She also touted online training modules for incom- ing employees the company created in collaboration with the Maine Community College System. "It's a good introduction for people to learn what we do, and it's also valu- able for cross-training," she notes. National spotlight Earlier this year, Leonard won a second unfair trade lawsuit against China. And this July, the company was in the national spotlight during a campaign stop at the Auburn Industrial Park by President Joe Biden. "America used to lead the world in manufacturing and we're doing it again," the Democratic incumbent told the gathering. Leonard called the visit historic, "reminding all Americans that Maine is on the manufacturing map and that domestic manufacturers like us will never stop working hard and fighting back against even the fiercest compe- tition,» as she told Mainebiz at the time. "We look forward to even brighter days ahead for manufacturers across America," she added. American Steel expands Maine footprint with Saco industrial site B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r American Steel and Aluminum LLC, a Maine company that supplies and pro- cesses metal to customer specifications, plans to expand its plate cutting and shot blasting capacity into a 50,920-square- foot industrial building on 11.43 acres at 75 Spring Hill Road in Saco. American Steel bought the prop- erty from CJT Enterprises LLC for $4.25 million. e deal was brokered by Tom Dunham and Greg Hastings from the Dunham Group. e building went up in 2000 and was renovated in 2008. It was formerly occupied by Casco Bay Steel Structures. American Steel will use the facility for inventory storage and to increase its heavy-plate cutting capacity, said Sam Blatchford, the company's president. "We have a 40,000-square-foot facility in Lewiston which is a lease so we'll exit at the end of 2025 or sooner, if someone wants to rent it," he says. American Steel is a subsidiary of privately owned Nova Steel Group, a Quebec-based processor and distrib- utor with plants in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. e company processes steel, alumi- num and other metals, from U.S. and Canadian mills, to customer specs, then distributes the processed materials to manufacturers throughout Maine and the Northeast. Metal arrives via rail and truck as sheets, plates, tubes, bars, beams and other shapes. American Steel stores nearly 4,000 different stock-keeping units of metal, from 50-foot-long beams to quarter-inch-wide "keystock" steel used in gears and couplings. Maine-based customers include Bath Iron Works in Bath, Hussey Seating Co. in North Berwick and Rockland manufacturer Fisher Engineering, owned by Milwaukee, Wisc.-based Douglas Dynamics. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E We've never had a backlog like this, and it doesn't seem to go down. — Kathie Leonard Auburn Manufacturing P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Kathie Leonard, president and CEO of Mechanic Falls-based Auburn Manufacturing, says the company is looking to add space at its Auburn plant next summer.

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