Poplar Bluff’s new factory, Empire Comfort Systems, could bring up to 200 jobs in five years

The first manufacturing facility to be built from the ground up in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park in 30 years could bring as many as 200 jobs to the area in the next five years.

Empire Comfort Systems is constructing a nearly 140,000-square-foot facility on South 11th Street, with room to double the size of the building in the future, Empire Vice President of Operations Jay Eaton explained Tuesday afternoon during a luncheon at Holiday Inn.

Company representatives attribute their decision to the ease of travel on the four-laned Highway 67 north and the welcome they have received by officials.

The Belleville, Illinois-based maker of heaters hopes to see the doors open by August.

“We’re entrusting our crown jewel, and especially the crown jewel of our future to Poplar Bluff,” Eaton explained during the event hosted by the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.

A line of fireplace inserts that represent about one-third of company sales, and one-quarter of company profits, will be the first items to be made in Poplar Bluff, Eaton said. Before Thanksgiving, the company hopes to be making a line of cast iron stoves here. By February, it would add a line of outdoor items, Broilmaster Premium Grills. And around May 2020, a line of custom decorative facades would join the Poplar Bluff-made items.

Empire wants to remain a leader in the manufacturing of its legacy products, while adapting to meet the needs of customers today, said Eaton, who has already moved to the Poplar Bluff community.

“For 87 years, we’re profitable, we’re growing, and we’re investing in today so that we can be profitable and growing in another 87 years,” he said.

For Poplar Bluff, the company’s goal is to be the employer of choice, Eaton said. The company expects to have about 30 employees in 2019, and about 75 in 2020. In five years, the total could be 150-200.

“We want to be known as a great place to work,” he said.

A family-operated company, Empire Comfort Systems was started in 1932. It now produces a wide variety of heaters, including direct-vent, vent-free, outdoor and b-vent.

President Nick Bauer and his sister, Jane Bauer Routh, represent the company’s fourth generation. Routh’s 4-year-old son, Henry, the fifth generation, attended a groundbreaking ceremony after the luncheon with his mother and uncle. Also attending was the siblings’ father, Brian Bauer, and mother, Pamela Bauer.

“Family business is who we are. It’s what the Bauer family has done since 1932,” said Nick Bauer. “Ninety-eight percent of our sales are to family businesses. We do that for a reason. We like doing business with people we enjoy doing business with.”

Bauer thanked chamber President Steve Halter, the chamber staff, members of the Poplar Bluff City Council and others in the community who have been part of the process to make the new factory a reality and making the company feel welcome.

It was that feeling of welcome that helped the company make its decision to locate here, he said. Both Bauer and Eaton also said the four-lane effort of Highway 67 north has made this possible. An effort to four lane Highway 67 south would also be good for the company, Bauer said.

The $7 million new facility will be constructed on approximately two acres on South 11th Street.

The company currently has a 550,000-square-foot facility in Belleville.

The company wants to be the best partner it can be, Bauer said.

“This is an expansion. This isn’t a move. We’re not going to create jobs here by laying people off where we’re from, so this is going to be a slow build for us,” he said. “We look forward to spending the next three, five, 10 years filling this facility. As you can see, there’s plenty of room to expand from there.”

The project will be completed with a team of local companies, said chamber President Steve Halter. This includes architects Dille & Traxel, engineers Smith & Company, Zoellner Construction and financing from First Midwest Bank.

The land where it is located is part of Missouri’s first state certified industrial site. It was deemed shovel-ready in 2016 after a review of the site access, utility availability, site development costs and other criteria.

The certification offered Poplar Bluff Industries, the economic development division of the chamber, additional opportunities to market the property. PBI is financing the building construction under a lease with option to buy, Halter said. This is how other factories at the industrial park have also been completed, he explained.