In that most confounding of years – 2020 – business was turned on its head … and then turned again. It initially painted a picture of doom as construction projects faced a complete shutdown. Builders adapted along with the nation. New needs emerged that required construction, but they were impeded by supply chain and labor shortage issues.
Small manufacturers stepped to the forefront to fill voids in the supply chain while rethinking their talent recruitment and marketing. That resilience has unfolded remarkably in their new facilities.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “after the COVID-19 pandemic began, manufacturing output fell at a 43-percent annual rate and hours worked fell at a 38-percent rate in the second quarter of 2020. These were the largest declines since World War II.” The doom was short lived. By the third quarter – despite issues with supply chain and labor shortages – “the annualized gains in manufacturing output (53 percent) and hours worked (30 percent) in the third quarter of 2020 were the largest ever recorded. Output recovered faster than hours worked, resulting in a historically high increase in manufacturing productivity of 18 percent.”
At that time, Contegra Construction was planning a project that appeared to be a promising wave of the future – reshoring. One lesson from the pandemic was that America’s reliance on foreign supply chains was a hindrance to efficiently responding to a public health crisis. Medical glove maker American Nitrile’s solution was reshoring the manufacturing of critical medical/research supplies so they are made in the U.S. The result was the renovation of 527,000-square-foot warehouse in Grove City, Ohio that was completed by Contegra in 2023. Today, it produces four billion medical research lab gloves annually.
But reshoring did not become a panacea for relieving constricted supply chains for a variety of reasons. Instead, a small St. Louis area firm, Nu Way Companies, became emblematic of a more enduring trend seen by Contegra – fortifying material supply chains for the construction industry and select manufacturers. In a great irony, Contegra began building small manufacturing projects that fortified the very supply chain that was hindering all construction.
Nu Way is a nearly 70-year-old family-owned business and one of the largest construction material and equipment suppliers in Metro St. Louis. They produce reinforcing steel and rebar. Think federal infrastructure spending on roads, a resurgent hospitality industry, multi-family and other surging sectors requiring structural support.
Nu Way’s state-of-the-art fabrication facility in Troy, Ill. was completed by Contegra in 2023 quadrupling its annual rebar production capacity to 15,000 tons. The new production facility features three overhead cranes and customizes rebar supplied by steel mills for all types of construction needs. The building features a 31,000-square-foot fabrication shop and 4,000 square feet of office space. The 21-foot clear height fabrication area has three bays and can process rebar on 3.5-ton coils and straight lengths up to 60-feet long. Each bay is served by an overhead crane, including a 16-ton magnetic crane and two five-ton cranes.
Back across the Mississippi River in Washington, Mo. just outside of St. Louis, custom coated aluminum coils needed for construction and other industries is AZZ Precoat Metal’s specialty. AZZ Precoat is currently installing production equipmentat its new220,00-square-foot facility completed by Contegra. The advanced manufacturing facility responds to increasing demand for coated aluminum coils slit to custom widths. It will augment the firm’s current production capabilities for customized steel, aluminum and galvanized metal coils used in containers,buildings, housing, automobiles, product storage, appliances, HVAC and more.
Another construction supplier, Elite Tool, is meeting demand with a new 130,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Moscow Mills, Mo. Contegra has just begun construction of the building which will accommodate new cranes, multiple lines of CNC fabrication equipment, paint booths, and welding and cutting stations. Elite Tool serves not only commercial and infrastructure building, but also aerospace, government, defense and marine industries with its precision machining and fabrication.
Seventy miles east of St. Louis, in Mt. Vernon, Ill., is Manner Polymers’ emerging new 100,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility. In this new facility Manner Polymers will be manufacturing flexible PVC materials which will serve a broad range of markets including building & construction, industrial & commercial, automotive and transportation, consumer products, appliance & electric, agriculture, telecommunications and medical. Contegra will complete this project by the end of the year. When fully operational in 2025, the new facility will expand Manner Polymers’ production capacity by 120 million pounds and is projected to create 60 new jobs. In a nod to strengthening supply chains strategically, the plant’s location capitalizes on the crossroads of major interstates – I-57 and I-64 – and is rail served.
Contegra’s role in all these projects is to ensure the building shell and infrastructure meet the manufacturers’ needs. At times that requires tapping our design/build skills and meeting with the owner and manufacturing suppliers to discuss specialized power, plumbing, HVAC, and structural needs. More and more, the dimensions have flexibility needs as companies look to expand production in the future. And it must optimize the increasing reliance on robotics, automation, sensors and “smart factories” that have increased productivity.
Businesses are also responding to another growing trend in manufacturing – overcoming a labor shortage and building more sophisticated sales teams. This is typically seen in building design that helps manufacturers market their products and bind their culture.
Diodes Dynamics is an automotive LED lighting manufacturer which moved into its new 70,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Mo. in 2021. They engaged Contegra’s design/build team early in the planning stages because they wanted space that allows employees to see each other and interact regularly. The outcome was a facility spanning two floors with views into the manufacturing area. It also features contemporary aluminum frames and glass, offering a clear view of the manufacturing space from the second-floor boardroom. Integration of the second-floor mezzanines provides an overlook into the lobby and into the manufacturing space. The facility also offers a glimpse of the assembly process where engineers see their concepts being produced in real time.
Diode Dynamics in St. Charles, Missouri, binds its culture with clear sightlines. (Photo courtesy of Contegra Construction.)
In another visual “engineers at work” project completed by Contegra in 2020, Melton Machine and Control Company’s (MMCC) high performance, energy efficient 367,000-square-foot facility is a headquarters and production capabilities showcase. Its main entry features a two-story curtainwall and an open lobby with a media wall and product display space. It also includes a large open stairway with a second-level glass railing overlooking the lobby and leading to client and employee meeting spaces.
In a building supported by a robust infrastructure, visitors can view an intuitive layout supporting MMCC’s precision work designing and building automated robotic welding systems. It includes three overhead bridge cranes, paint booth, wash bay, extensive power distribution, compressed air and welding gas loop piping and flex drops for specialized automated arc welding machine product testing and fabrication areas. Meanwhile, the 74,000-square-foot corporate office component unites the culture with training and conference space.
All of these projects are built for solution-oriented engineers, who know every square
inch of the manufacturing or fabrication process. As engineers building for engineers, there is a common desire for alignment on constructability in early planning stages. And for builders building for construction suppliers, there’s an equally strong alignment to deliver optimal functionality while fortifying business cultures to strengthen supply chains in the long term.
Jim Mundy is chief operating officer for Edwardsville, Illinois.-based Contegra Construction Co.
