Trimpac to build new facility in Stratford following ownership change
Construction was initially planned for Marshfield
By Adam Hocking
Editor
MARSHFIELD — In April the city of Marshfield approved a development agreement with developer BWV Investments LLC for the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Marshfield’s Norwood Industrial Park, but recent developments have nullified that deal.
At the time of that initial agreement, the tenant for the new facility was not known. However, Hub City Times has confirmed that the tenant was to be Trimpac, a Marshfield-based business that “specializes in the manufacturing and installation of architectural wood interiors,” according to the company’s website. Trimpac recently underwent an ownership change as a local family purchased the business from a group that was based in the Green Bay area.
Instead of Marshfield, Trimpac will now build its new facility in Stratford. That facility will serve as the new headquarters for the business, according to Lisa Moore, who is one of the new owners of Trimpac along with her husband, daughter-in-law, and stepson. Moore said she and her family officially took over ownership of Trimpac on May 20. The change in direction to build in Stratford rather than Marshfield occurred on May 18 as the family was closing the deal to acquire Trimpac.
She noted that Trimpac’s current Marshfield facility has been sold to Wolfcraft Manufacturing of Unity, which will now occupy that space. Moore said her family had been working on acquiring Trimpac since October of 2015.
The new facility in Stratford will function as the sole location for Trimpac, with headquarters and manufacturing operations located there. Moore said the new facility will be about 46,000 square feet and that the cost to build it will be $1.4 million.
According to Moore, BWV Investments LLC, which is effectively Rob Nikolai and his wife and business partner Alison Nikolai, did not want to be the only investor for building the facility in Marshfield. Now a Stratford businessman will finance the building of the new facility. Moore noted that Don Nikolai Construction, which Rob Nikolai is the president and owner of, is still the contractor for construction of the new facility in Stratford.
“There was a gentleman in Stratford that we had worked with as far as purchasing the business itself, and he was interested in being the building owner, and in order for him to do that, we needed to build in Stratford,” Moore said, though she declined to name the financer.
The city of Marshfield had agreed to contribute $200,000 toward construction of the new facility when it was planned to be built in Marshfield. The city was going to finance the $200,000 through borrowing but did not start that process.
City Administrator Steve Barg said that typically with development agreements, the developer is also the company that will be occupying the space, and thus a signed deal with the city usually equals a near certainty the project will be executed as agreed upon. In this case, Barg said, the city only had a deal with BWV Investments and was not part of the discussions between BWV Investments and Trimpac.
“We thought at one point it was looking positive, but it just couldn’t get to the finish line,” Barg said. He later added, “It’s disappointing to see Trimpac building in Stratford rather than Marshfield, but we believe that our offer was fair and reasonable, and it just didn’t work out this time.”
“In the economic development world, you don’t win them all, and I think in recent years we’ve had far more successes than we’ve had disappointments,” Barg said.
All four members of the new Trimpac ownership group bring skills and experiences, which translate well to owning Trimpac, Moore said. Moore had worked in health care management; her daughter-in-law, Ashley Moore, handled accounting for Trimpac; her husband, Jed Moore, has worked in the same industry as Trimpac; and her stepson, Luke Moore, has previous plant management experience.
“We knew that this would be something that we could tackle,” Lisa Moore said. She later added, “It’s a learning curve (in) every aspect, but that’s with any new acquisition of a business, so we’re just trying to make it our own. We’ve made some, we think, very positive changes for the staff, and we’re just moving forward and learning all we can.”
Trimpac, Lisa Moore said, has retained all of the employees from the previous ownership group and added two new staff. She added that Trimpac wants to “create 15 new positions within five years.”
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