Yesterday was an important day for the future success of Draper. We officially unveiled the tenth building at our manufacturing campus in Spiceland, Indiana with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring company leadership. The 100,000 square foot building brings the amount of total space to 500,000 square feet.
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“This building will add seven much-needed loading docks, and also storage and production space. It will enable us to add a new automated powder coating line,” Chris Broome, the fifth generation of the family to serve as Draper president during its 121-year history told those in attendance. “But more important than our buildings are our people. We are proud that in our 121-year history, Draper has laid off zero employees. Draper currently has 723 employees, with a total of 7,680 years of service. 167 of our employees have passed the 20-year milestone. 12 have been here for more than 40 years.”
Founded in 1902 as a manufacturer of window shades for schools, Draper now makes motorized shading systems for the commercial and residential markets; AV projection screens and lifts; custom AV mounts and structures; and custom solar control solutions. Draper is also the largest architectural gym equipment manufacturer in North America.
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The new building was added after several years of steady growth, and with the expectation of even more growth with the company’s entry as a major player in the residential shading market.
“We see a lot of good growth opportunities, and this building is going to allow us to continue to take care of and meet the needs of our customers,” said Broome. “From a supply standpoint, we’ll be able to keep a better inventory of fabrics and other components, which will allow us to be more responsive to our customers’ needs.”
The completion of Building 10 is expected to create 25-30 new jobs in the short term.
To watch a video of Chris Broome’s remarks and the ribbon cutting, click here.
You can watch a time lapse video of the construction of Building 10 here.