Aluminum supplier ALPCO comes to Elkhart to reach next level of growth

An Ohio-based aluminum distributor with a longtime sales presence in Elkhart says it needed to open a facility here to grow.

For more than 25 years, Aluminum Line Products Co. has shipped fabricated and raw sheets of aluminum from its sole production facility in Westlake, Ohio, to the many Elkhart area companies that make cargo trailers, truck bodies and shuttle buses.

“For the longest time our loyal customer base said, ‘We will do more with you but you’ve got to have some brick and mortar here,” said Jim Guerin, vice president of sales and marketing. “‘You’ve got to be a little closer.’ With the 3 1/2-hour distance, they feel comfortable that if something goes wrong, they have somebody here with a local presence that can react quickly.”

ALPCO initially wanted to build a new facility, but “there wasn’t anywhere near the commercial real estate available that was here three, four years ago,” Guerin said.

The company also had difficulty locating an existing building that was suitable for its needs, including tall ceilings, adequate loading docks and electrical capacity, as the economy rebounded from the Great Recession.

“A lot of those buildings have been taken off the market,” Guerin said. “A lot of your (vehicle manufacturers) have expanded and they’ve taken up a lot of that existing real estate, and then you’ve had the supply side come back, like we have.”

So in June, ALPCO leased a 21,000-square-foot building at 4500 Wyland Drive in an industrial area on the city’s northeast side, knowing it would need to expand immediately. It’s building a 24,000-square-foot addition that will more than double the structure’s size.

Guerin said the prior tenant had an importing business and used the building for warehousing, but only a small part of it.

Employment will grow from 12 workers to about 18 by April or May, and more over the coming years if growth plans materialize.

Like the recreational vehicle industry, ALPCO’s cargo trailer customers have enjoyed a resurgence since the 2009 recession as interest rates have remained low, employment has grown and lenders have loosened standards, Guerin said. Baby boomers are buying cargo trailers, used to haul a variety of items, like they are RVs.

The company believes the expanded facility will serve its needs for at least the next couple of years. But at some point ALPCO hopes to break into the RV market.

“We need the space,” Guerin said. “We’re making capital expenditure decisions on what pieces of equipment we’re going to put here. It’s a crawl, walk, run process. It’s a target market.”

ALPCO, whose local competitors include Amerimax and AMC Aluminum Metals Co., typically posts annual sales that hover between $80 million and $100 million, depending on aluminum prices, which have been depressed in recent years but are now rising.

“We want to grow as a business and leverage our strength on coated (prepainted) products,” Guerin said. ”This is the single biggest market in the country to do that in... From the different segments you have here, with the horse trailers, the cargo trailers, the boat market, the RV market, it’s one of the largest metal-working areas in the country. The amount of aluminum used here is tremendous.

“When you look at where you’re going to go, what your success rate is going to be, this was a natural for us. The growth opportunity is still very, very good here.”

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