New Business Propels Growth

Tower Automotive reports that new contracts to build frames for the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle have prompted an expansion of its Corydon, Ind., facility. The $70.9 million investment will add 140,000 square feet of manufacturing space and likely result in the addition of 40 workers to the 375-person workforce. More than $65 million of the investment will buy new production equipment including automatic robotic welding machines, hydraulic piercing machines, and frame-coating lines. The addition will be phased in beginning in January 1999, with full operation expected in the second quarter of 2000.