An Otsego company that calls itself a global leader in injection molded magnets is again expanding its operations.
Tengam Engineering, located at 545 Washington St., had a site plan for an expansion mainly to the east side of the building approved by the Otsego City Commission Monday, March 6.
Tengam president Mark McPherson said, “The injection molded magnet demands are way up because the industries that use them have more and more power electronics available to them at lower and lower prices.
“That makes the magnets we make more and more necessary.”
Tengam has about 40 employees now and has added about 35 percent of those this year.
McPherson said the growth in demand for molded magnets has been particularly big in electric motors for vehicles, water pumping and the medical industry.
“Automotive is very important, but we have a very, very broad market segment,” he said.
The 23,000 square foot addition is needed because of that.
“The new building will allow us to have greater flexibility in what we’re doing currently,” he said. “The building we have now is very cramped and at capacity.”
The company started out with 6,000 square feet on the site in 1990. In 1992, they doubled that and added 22,000 square feet in 2011. Last year, the company added a storage building that made room for new equipment.
“I’m hoping with this addition, we’ll get enough space for the next 10 to 15 years,” McPherson said.
The site plan calls for two large truck bays with cranes and a storage mezzanine to be built.
“That will be almost the size of our original building,” McPherson said.
At the city meeting, city manager Thad Beard pointed to details like a larger turnaround area which would make it easier to fight a fire on site and that the property was effectively full with the addition. The city’s planning commission recommended approval.
“This will max them out on site,” Beard said. “The ordinance allows only 50 percent of land space to be used in the industrial zone.”
He said it was good news for the city.
“It’s exciting to see them expand again so soon,” Beard said.
McPherson said contractors had already begun to clear the site and that it should be ready for production by February or March, 2018.
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534 or (269) 685-9571.
.