Wabash planning $20M expansion
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Lafayette-based Wabash (NYSE: WNC) on Thursday announced plans for a $20 million expansion at its 53-acre facility in Minnesota. Wabash says the additional manufacturing capacity will allow it to expand its EcoNex Technology to address customer demand and equipment challenges among refrigerated carriers.
The expansion is expected to create more than 200 jobs by the end of 2023.
“Although Wabash developed EcoNex with trailers in mind, its scalability across our portfolio is substantial,” said Brent Yeagy, chief executive officer. “At the end of 2021, we announced the launch of our refrigerated home delivery vehicle, and our initial backlog of $10 million for these new vehicles doubled in the following 90 days.”
According to Wabash, its EcoNex Technology is a sustainable, molded structural composite that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependency on non-renewable energy.
“What’s more, we think EcoNex has applications beyond our core markets because of its superior thermal capability, weight and strength,” said Yeagy. “Our investment to expand EcoNex capacity, which we discussed at our May investor meeting, is intended to serve our trailer and truck body customers while we scale EcoNex in adjacent industries.”
The company says a refrigerated trailer with the technology is estimated to save up to 13.5 metric tons of CO2e per year compared to Wabash’s former ArcticLite refrigerated trailer, which is made with conventional materials.