More than a year after breaking ground, Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based engineering company Wunderlich-Malec opened its Baldwin manufacturing plant May 28.
It is at 1190 Baldwin Tradeplex Drive just east of U.S. 301.
The 61,000-square-foot facility will support the company’s modular manufacturing operations that primarily serve utility providers and their substations.
Also known as modular cabinets or enclosure systems, the enclosures protect and organize electrical and electronic equipment, components and systems.
The Baldwin facility complements Wunderlich-Malec’s 105,000-square-foot plant in Winslow, Maine.
The company performed most of the architectural and engineering design for the project, including civil, structural, mechanical and electrical operations.
Ponte Vedra-based Gervais Ventures was the construction manager, overseeing daily site work and the project’s subcontractors.
Dan Gilbert, vice president of operations at Wunderlich-Malec, said the facility will employ up to 50 people. It also has room on the property to add another 30,000 square feet when there is demand.
The expansion into Baldwin, he said, supports the company’s goal to better attract and retain customers in the Southeast, including Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric.
The company considered acquisitions and partnerships in the region but ultimately decided to build a new facility and staff it locally.
In addition to Florida, Wunderlich-Malec considered Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina for the site.
“We received our occupancy permit last week and final inspections from the fire marshal,” he said. “Today we’re ready to start manufacturing and filling the facility up with work.”
“People look at Baldwin and they don’t understand it, but in this (U.S.) 301 area you’re 10 minutes to I-10, 30 minutes to I-75 and about 35 minutes to the airport,” said Mayor Sean Lynch.
“This means a lot for Baldwin. This means jobs in Baldwin. Good jobs. Skilled jobs. This company has been a pleasure from the beginning.”
Wunderlich-Malec has provided engineered solutions to the industrial market throughout North America and abroad since 1981. The employee-owned company has more than 600 workers in 34 offices.