McPHERSON, KAN. — Viega North America continued its expansion March 14 when it broke ground here on a new 439,000-sq.-ft. production, logistics and office complex.

Before a turnout of city and state officials, business leaders and Viega executive staff, Viega owner Walter Viegener, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Viega CEO Dan Schmierer, McPherson Mayor Bill Goering and Brett Reber, president of the McPherson Industrial Development company, spoke at the groundbreaking.

"This is a big day for Kansas," Sebelius said.

Viega entered the U.S. market in 1999 when it bought half of Stadler Corp. and was named Stadler-Viega. It since acquired the remaining interest in the company and bought Vanguard Piping Systems in 2005.

"This facility will be the best of its kind," said Viegener, an owner of Attendorn, Germany-based Viega.

Located along Interstate 135, the complex is nearly three times as large as the current manufacturing and logistics facility and will occupy more than 100 acres of land. Equipped with extrusion and molding technologies, the new plant is scheduled to open in 2008.

Viega is investing another $10 million in Kansas for a corporate headquarters. Recently relocating its national headquarters from Bedford, Mass., to Wichita, Kan., Viega has chosen the Waterfront area as the site for the new Viega national headquarters building (July 2006, pg. 3).

The site of the Viega headquarters, scheduled for completion within two years, was selected based on numerous factors, including accessibility to the airport, high visibility, and the proximity of hotels, restaurants and shops.

"The Waterfront is an excellent venue for the Viega headquarters building," Schmierer said. "We'll be in an area with well-established commercial development. And, we believe this is a premier office area in Wichita. I believe this is a great opportunity for Viega, for Wichita and for Kansas."

Viega acquired PEX maker Vanguard and an affiliated company, Midtec of America, an injection molding company, in October 2005. Construction of new facilities in McPherson will allow the extrusion, molding and warehouse operations to be combined. The three facilities currently occupied by the extrusion and injection molding divisions of Viega will be vacated with the completion of the new facility. Today, Viega has more than 435 employees in North America.

"We believe the North American market offers significant growth opportunities and we're making a strong commitment to the market with an aggressive growth strategy," Schmierer said. "We'll also equip the warehouse facilities with the most modern inventory-handling equipment and software, giving us the capability to serve our customers with reduced delivery times. Our goal is to deliver complete orders to our customers within a 24-hour period throughout North America."

Viega's products include the ProPress copper press fittings for potable water and commercial piping applications, the Manabloc water distribution plumbing system and Vanex Ultra PEX tubing.

Viega's parent company has more than 2 million sq. ft. of manufacturing and office space in Germany. The privately held company, owned by cousins Heinz-Bernd Viegener and Walter Viegener, has operated for more than 100 years. The company, which employs more than 2,000 people in four plants in Germany, manufactures and distributes metallic and plastic products for the plumbing, HVAC and commercial piping markets.

Additional information is available at www.viega-na.com or at 877/VIEGANA.