Mercury Marine announced today three new expansions to its Fond du Lac campus to meet record demand from its global customers. Mercury will increase capacity in both its Foundry and Machining facilities in Wisconsin, adding close to 100,000 additional square feet to its now three million square foot campus. Since 2009, Mercury has now invested more than $1.7B in capacity and expansion, growing to now more than 4,000 employees in Fond du Lac, with an immediate need to fill more than 200 openings.
“Demand for all our products is at an all-time high and these expansions will help meet the needs of our global partners.” said Chris Drees, Mercury Marine president. “Expanding our core production capabilities in Fond du Lac will leverage our current infrastructure and maintain our core production capabilities right here in Wisconsin.”
Mercury continues its rapid pace of growth in the Fox Valley. A recent study showed that Mercury contributes $5.1 billion annually to the Fond du Lac community and with its continued growth, that number is expected to grow again this year.
In addition to its expansion in Fond du Lac, Mercury is planning to open a centralized, purpose-built distribution center to support its industry leading parts and accessories business. The new 512,000 square foot facility will be located near Indianapolis, Indiana, a strategic location that will improve delivery and service to Mercury’s global customers while adding much needed capacity for scale, stability, and reduced logistics costs. Mercury’s current Parts and Accessories distribution facility will be repurposed to support its award-winning propulsion systems, further allowing the company to increase capacity and production capabilities. The anticipated opening of the new distribution facility is slated for October 2022. The building is also being designed for LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) Silver certification. Part of the design to achieve this certification is a portion of the roof mounted solar array that will be installed on the Southwest corner of the facility.
“Fond du Lac remains Mercury’s headquarters and global center for development and center of excellence for manufacturing of high horsepower engines as well as future state-of-the-art propulsion systems,” said Drees. “For us to continue to meet the needs of our global customers, we identified an opportunity to create a centralized distribution center that will have an immediate impact on our customers and our business. Our current distribution facility in Fond du Lac will be converted into additional manufacturing space, used to meet record demand for Mercury propulsion systems.”
Employees working at Mercury’s current distribution facility in Fond du Lac will be provided transfer opportunities to other Fond du Lac based operations once the transition is complete. This new distribution center will also allow the Land ‘N’ Sea facilities to expand its offering to adjacent customers.