Monett-based extrusion company secures land deal for new projects

Monett-based Architectural Systems Inc. has completed an expansion at its Aurora facility and received a land deal from the city of Aurora to assist future growth.

Now in its 17th year, ASI completes fabrication, extrusion finishing and makes brake metal with formed sheet aluminum at its Monett plant. ASI receives its raw materials from its customers and does not extrude aluminum, but focuses on processing the materials.

The company purchased a former garment factory in Granby from banker Glen Garrett about eight years ago, where it makes small parts, takes on specialty fabrications and finishes products.

ASI has operated a factory in Aurora's industrial park for the past two-and-a-half years, where the company makes curtain wall systems, external skin for commercial buildings.

The city of Aurora agreed to turn 10 acres of property north of ASI's plant in the industrial park over to the company, valued at $2,500 an acre, at no charge on condition that the company creates 40 jobs within two years. The jobs must continue for five years beyond the two-year creation period. If fewer jobs are created, a price will be placed on the land. ASI currently has 60 of its 250 employees in Aurora.

"We're landlocked in Monett," said Charlie Locher, co-owner and president of ASI with Scott Beckwith. "To expand in Monett, we'd have to build. We were offered a great deal on the Granby property. We thought we would tap a different labor market there. We've done OK. We have about eight employees there.

"We came to Aurora for an equipment auction. We found the property was available and bought it with the intention of using it for warehousing. We started production in Aurora gradually, in the fall of 2013."

The Aurora facility offered space for assembly, a difficult process in ASI's other facilities. With that in mind, ASI recently completed adding 12,000 square feet on the west side of the plant, boosting the size of the plant to 51,000 square feet. The plant also has an indoor loading bay, in addition to two outdoor loading docks.

Two major jobs are underway in the plant, one involving the completion of framed panels for the new Children's Hospital under construction at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Locher said the destruction of St. John's Hospital in Joplin resulted in a wide range of new standards for hospital construction, which are being incorporated into ASI's contribution. Workers are also building panels for the lower level of what will be the tallest condominium in the western hemisphere at 98 stories, going up at 423 Park Ave. in New York City.

"We felt like with the type of operation we're running [in Aurora] that we were better served with the added square footage here," Locher said.