More than a decade ago, Timpte Inc. dipped its toe into Lincoln, buying a property at 3400 W. O St. that had belonged to a company that made decorative stones.
The David City-based company started out in Lincoln in 2011 with five employees and using less than a third of the 32,000-square-foot building.
Things have boomed since.
Dale Jones, President and CEO of Timpte, said that what became Thunderstone Manufacturing, a company that makes trailer tarps and related components, has experienced double-digit sales growth ever since, including record growth last year.
The company now has more than 60 employees and has expanded its physical space three times, so much so that it no longer has any room to grow on the 5-acre site.
So Timpte, Jones said, set out to find a location that it believes will give it plenty of room to expand.
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The company on Thursday announced plans to build a large new manufacturing and warehouse building at the Lincoln Airport's industrial park.
The building, which will be built on about 15 acres near Northwest 47th and West Stanton streets, will be between 180,000 and 200,000 square feet.
Jones said the company plans to move the Thunderstone operation there and eventually sell the existing land and building on West O Street.
The new Lincoln building also will be the home of a new product Timpte launched in the past two years: aluminum equipment trailers. And it will serve as a central parts warehouse.
“Timpte is excited for the opportunity to expand our manufacturing operations in Lincoln and build on the success we have seen over the past 11 years at our West O Street facility," Jones said.
The company is spending more than $30 million on the new facility — $22 million on construction plus another $9 million-$10 million for machinery and fixtures.
The new building will create openings for about 80 new employees, which will boost Timpte's employment in Lincoln to about 140. The company overall employs about 700 workers.
More than 400 of those people work in David City, where the company has its manufacturing plant making its main product: semi trailers, of which it expects to produce about 5,000 this year.
Jones was quick to emphasize that the Lincoln project will not have any negative effects on the operations in David City.
Just in the past three years, Timpte spent $20 million on a new headquarters and also bought the former Fargo Assembly plant in David City to accommodate growth, he said.
The plan for the new facility in Lincoln, he said, "is a positive for David City and a positive for Lincoln."
As with all companies that build in the airport's industrial park, officially called the LNK Enterprise Park, Timpte will not own the building or the land.
It will have a 25-year initial lease with options that can extend that lease up to 50 years.
The Airport Authority, which voted in favor of the deal on Thursday, also will help finance it with the first use of a tool called a revenue bond.
Airport Executive Director David Haring said he's "thrilled" to welcome Timpte to the airport's industrial park, "and we look forward to watching their growth and contributions to our community for decades to come."
The site, which is southeast of Bowling Lake, gives Timpte plenty of room to expand — in fact, plans show a future potential 190,000-square-foot expansion. The company also has negotiated the right of first refusal on several pieces of land surrounding the site, meaning it could choose to match any offer the airport got from another company.
"We're going to grow," Jones said. "We expect to be able to continually add onto this facility as required."
He said Timpte plans to break ground in the next 60-90 days, with the bulk of construction starting in the summer. The expected completion date is October 2024.
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