Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc., the Pullman-based maker of electrical-system protection, monitoring, and control equipment, plans to break ground in February on a $10 million facility in Lewiston and hopes to start work in March on a $7 million office building near its headquarters.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on both projects, and Bernardo Wills Architects PS, also of Spokane, designed them. Both projects are scheduled to be completed in September, the company said in a press release.

The Lewiston project will include construction of a 105,800-square-foot office-and-manufacturing building that will be located on a 25-acre parcel of land in the Lewiston Business & Technology Park, about a mile south of the Snake River, the release said.

The two-story structure will be erected with concrete tilt-up panels cast at the development site.

SEL expects to employ 250 people at the site in two to three years, says Tammy Lewis, SEL spokeswoman. Some employees who live in the Lewiston area and commute to Pullman likely will transfer to the Lewiston facility, and their Pullman positions will be refilled as needed, Lewis says.

Additionally, the company currently has 160 job openings, most of which are for Pullman-based positions, she says.

The Pullman project will be located on five acres of land in the Port of Whitman County's Pullman Industrial Park on the north side of Pullman. That project will include construction of a 70,000-square-foot, three-story building to be called the Solution Delivery Center, which will house six large customer-training rooms, conference rooms, and engineering and research space.

SEL also is preparing to expand its 137,000-square-foot San Luis Potosi, Mexico, manufacturing complex by 68,500 square feet to make room for its growing production. That project is scheduled for completion in November 2011.

The company also operates a manufacturing plant in Lake Zurich, Ill.

The company said it's running out of space for manufacturing, research, and development, and engineering services, because it's growing worldwide. SEL has sales in many industry sectors in more than 130 countries.