MacKay Manufacturing Inc., a longtime Spokane precision machine shop, says it broke ground earlier this month on a 10,000-square-foot expansion of its Spokane Valley plant in an effort to keep up with growing demand for its work.


The expansion, which had been planned to take place about three years earlier but was postponed when the Asian financial crisis hurt the companys principal customers, will cost about $700,000, but MacKay Manufacturing expects to spend another about $2 million on new equipment in connection with the project, says company President Mike MacKay.


MacKay says the company decided to launch the project now because its business volume has been increasing significantly in the past couple of years. Though he declines to disclose revenue numbers, he says the companys annual sales have doubled since 1995 and now are climbing about 25 percent a year. MacKay Manufacturing currently employs about 80 workers, and has hired about a half-dozen new employees so far this year.


Ive never seen it so busy, says MacKay, adding that hes continually looking for additional machinists and assembly workers.


The specialty machine shop, which is located in an 18,000-square-foot building at 10011 E. Montgomery, serves mostly electronics companies and makers of surgical equipment. About 90 percent of its business comes from out of the Spokane area, mostly along the Interstate 5 corridor in Western Washington, and in the San Francisco area.


The plant expansion, which will be built onto the north side of MacKay Manufacturings facility, was designed and is being built by Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane. Though Garco will erect the metal structure, MacKay Manufacturing will act as its own general contractor on interior improvements, MacKay says. The expansion began about two weeks ago and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, he says.


MacKay says the company is spending an additional about $2 million on computer-controlled machining equipment for the plant, which will provide the company with added production capacity. He says the company is in the final stages of securing between $1 million and $2 million in industrial revenue bonds to help finance the expansion and equipment purchases.


MacKay Manufacturings plant was last expanded in 1993, and the current expansion is expected to accommodate expected growth for the next five years, MacKay says.