Wagoner’s newest manufacturing addition is ramping up production at its only manufacturing facility in the state. DMI Companies picked Wagoner as the place to expand its operations last year and are now ahead of schedule on production and jobs offered.
City of Wagoner Economic Development Authority chairwoman Pamela Stephens-Karnes and Mayor Albert Jones toured the facility Wednesday, March 14 to get a look at the company’s progress since celebrating its ribbon cutting ceremony in September 2017.
DMI Companies is the largest HVAC accessories manufacturer in North America, and the Wagoner facility is unique in that it will be the company’s only facility that will have products for all five of its Strategic Business Units – Ductmate Industries, Inc., Aire Technologies, Inc., GreenSeam Industries, Linx Industries, Inc., and CL Ward – in production by May 1.
Stephens-Karnes said the economic development authority continues to “discuss how to continue to support their growth and improve their production capacities.”
“It really is encouraging to see so many Wagoner Public Schools graduates working in this manufacturing facility,” Stephens-Karnes said. “It certainly gives me hope for our students to realize that job opportunities exist in their hometown.”
It was planned that DMI Companies would provide 20 new jobs after its first year in operation and 60 new jobs after five, but according to Ryan Johnson, Vice President of Operations for Linx Industries, they are “way ahead of schedule” on that with already almost 20 employees since the September ribbon cutting.
“They are already ahead of the projected hiring schedule,” Stephens-Karnes said. “Within the first year of operation in Wagoner, they anticipate having a 25-32% higher employee count than was projected during site location decisions.”
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said DMI has made significant investments in the community of Wagoner in the past year.
“Cherokee Nation is committed to assisting the company’s growth by providing a skilled and qualified workforce,” said Chief Baker. “Connecting our people to good manufacturing jobs, like the ones at DMI, creates positive economic opportunities for our entire region in northeast Oklahoma.”
Johnson led city officials on the facility tour, showing Jones and Stephens-Karnes each of the production lines, how their products are made and how their technology works. The finale of the tour was a look at the company’s newest addition to its manufacturing equipment – a fully automated laser made by Mitsubishi.
“A year ago, standing in Pennsylvania, looking at the laser that is in the manufacturing facility there, and now seeing one here today, makes all the time and effort spent on this project worthwhile, knowing that all five SBUs can manufacture here in Wagoner – the first incorporated city in Indian Territory,” Jones said. “No where else in the world does DMI have a facility that puts out products for all its subsidiaries.”
This technology will allow for round-the-clock parts production, giving DMI Companies a competitive edge in offering their products to the marketplace, Johnson said.
All DMI Companies’ manufactured products are made in the U.S.A., and now this Wagoner plant means many of those products will be made right here in the heart of Green Country.