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Oct 17, 2024

Ridgeview Industries plans expansion in Walker | Crain's Grand Rapids Business

A Walker-based metal stamping and welded assembly manufacturer for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers recently broke ground on a roughly $9 million expansion. Executives with Ridgeview Industries Inc., which

A Walker-based metal stamping and welded assembly manufacturer for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers recently broke ground on a roughly $9 million expansion.

Executives with Ridgeview Industries Inc., which has additional locations in Walker, Spring Lake and Huntsville, Ala., say the 85,000-square-foot expansion was needed to support the 47-year-old company’s ongoing growth with existing customers.

“We were just running out of space in the West Michigan area,” Ridgeview President Chris Hall told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

The addition takes place at the company’s corporate and manufacturing headquarters at 3093 Northridge Drive NW, where Ridgeview needed more space for new equipment, Hall said.

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Ridgeview employs 580 people across its four locations in Michigan and Alabama. The company is predominantly a metal stamper, and recently became partially employee-owned as part of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan that took effect in January 2023. Ridgeview previously acquired its Spring Lake stamping facility from Shape Corp. in 2018.

Caledonia-based FCC Construction Inc. is leading the expansion buildout, which Ridgeview hopes will support 20 new jobs over the next few years.

As a supplier for the automotive industry, Hall said Ridgeview hasn’t “done too bad” amid OEMs’ shifting electric vehicle targets, which have trickled down the supply chain as companies gauge how much to invest in EVs.

“We’ve been a little bit shy jumping into EV platforms over the last couple of years,” said Hall, noting that Ridgeview does business with EV maker Rivian and is “constantly” getting EV quotes. “We’re just trying to cautiously step into it. We haven’t been hit too bad just because of our conservative nature.”

In addition to producing various interior, drivetrain, chassis and brake components for the auto sector, Ridgeview also makes metal components for the office furniture, electrical, wind energy and appliance sectors.

Meanwhile, recent market reports anticipate steady growth for the U.S. metal stamping industry. The sector’s estimated market size in 2023 was nearly $47.5 billion, and is expected to expand at a 4% compound annual growth rate by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

The automotive and transportation sectors make up the largest portion of the market’s revenue, and an increased focus on reducing vehicles’ weight could boost metal stamping demand in the coming years, according to the report.

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