MacKay Manufacturing Inc., the Spokane Valley-based fabricator of components used in the medical, aerospace, and semiconductor industries, has acquired a parcel next to its headquarters and plans to construct a 22,000-square-foot addition there.

Company Vice President Katie MacKay says the added space would adjoin its existing facilities, located at 10011 E. Montgomery, which total 28,000 square feet. The slated addition will bring MacKay's facilities here to a total of 50,000 square feet and also will more than double its current manufacturing floor space, she says.

The addition will be constructed on property most recently owned by Spokane Valley-based Wilson Tool & Manufacturing Inc., which occupied two buildings there, MacKay says. Those buildings will be demolished, she says.

She adds that MacKay Manufacturing bought a newer, nearby facility for Wilson Tool, at 2622 N. Dartmouth, because that company for some time had been reluctant to sell its property to MacKay. In return, she says Wilson Tool transferred its property at 10025 E. Montgomery to MacKay Manufacturing.

MacKay estimates it would have cost her company about $1 million to move to a larger facility elsewhere versus adding to its existing operations. The addition is expected to cost around half as much as what it would have to move, she adds, although she says the company hasn't yet received a construction cost estimate for the planned addition.

"We also won't disrupt production, and we can still make our sales goals while getting the addition, so it also saves time," she says of the company's decision to stay at its current location.

She says that the company's sales increased by 7 percent last year compared with 2010, and it's projecting to see another increase in sales this year.

MacKay says the planned two-story addition is to house a new employee dining facility, information-technology office, programming offices, and a conference room. The remaining portion will provide the manufacturer with adequate space to add new manufacturing equipment in the future.

"We can't fit any more machines in the building so we're limited on growth until we can add more," MacKay says. "We are purchasing $500,000 pieces of equipment a couple times a year, but we won't in 2012 because of the cost of construction."

She says that work on the new space should begin in late April. Demolition of the two former Wilson Tool buildings should begin earlier that month, she adds.

Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the project contractor and also engineered the addition.

MacKay says the company currently employs 117 people.

More than half of MacKay Manufacturing's work involves the production of devices and instruments for the medical field, but the company also does machining work for clients in other sectors, such as the aerospace and electronics industries.