Ernst Metal Technologies’ existing facility at 2920 Kreitzer Road is 100,000 square feet, and the expansion will add 24,000 square feet, allowing the site to take advantage of growth opportunities, Burt said.
“We have ordered a larger (1,000-ton) press, which will ... do two things for us,” he said. “It’ll provide some redundancy for our (800-ton) machine that we have now andit’ll also open up different opportunities for (us to produce) larger components.”
The larger press is being being manufactured in Spain and will be delivered during the fourth quarter of 2023, Burt said.
The addition, which is being built by Dayton-based Ferguson Construction, also provides a larger footprint that will allow the company to create new products, he said.
“We’re always looking to get into other value-add streams, and right now we’re kind of locked,” Burt said. “We don’t have any space to grow to add any additional machinery or new processes, so this is really about that, as well.”
Ernst Metal Technologies employs 110 people, Burt said, and about 50 new jobs are expected to be created in the next 5 years. The $8 million investment, which includes equipment, is expected to create 5 to 10 jobs as an immediate result of the expansion, which is expected to take approximately eight months.
As part of its growth strategy, the company is diversifying, he said.
“We are beginning to add non-automotive business ... we’ve secured a large (energy storage) contract that we will start producing parts next year,” Burt said.
The company is an OEM, or original equipment manufacturer, to Stellantis, formerly known as FCA, or Fiat Chrysler, he said.
Ernst Metal Technologies is part of Ernst Group, which was founded 51 years ago and is headquartered in Germany. It has sites in France and in China and about 800 employees worldwide.
“We’ve been in Moraine 16 years when they partnered with Moore Tooling,” Burt said. “When they did that, it was Ernst & Moore, and then subsequently bought out Moore and has been Ernst Metal Technologies for about 10 years.”
Burt, who has been with Ernst Metal Technologies since July 2017, took over as president in 2019.
“This is an exciting time for me personally, our employees and the Ernst Group as a whole,” he said.
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