Crain’s Cleveland Business – March 16, 2014 – Anderson International Corp. executives knew an expansion of the company’s plant in Stow was inevitable when the machinery maker relocated there. They just didn’t know “inevitable” meant two years. Blame it on faster growth than expected by the manufacturer of dewatering and drying equipment for synthetic rubber producers. The company has gone to 130 employees from 50 since it moved from its Cleveland plant to Stow. “We’re buried,” said Lenny Trocano, president of the privately held company as he walked through the busy machine hall. The building is packed with equipment and work in progress. Trocano and Paul Kohntopp, Anderson’s vice president and general manager, said they were aware the 78,200-square-foot building wasn’t perfect when the company acquired it in 2011. “We knew in our gut we should have bought bigger,” Kohntopp said. “This was smaller than what we came from,” an aging structure on Cleveland’s East Side, Kohntopp said. “But we are definitely more efficient here,” with a well-thought-out floor layout, he said. The Stow site has an extensive system of overhead cranes, vital for a company that handles extremely heavy parts and equipment, Trocano said. And the steel structure includes an area that obviously could accommodate an expansion — a back wall that will be extended to accommodate another 24,000 square feet on the 10-acre site. Kohntopp termed the cost of the project “substantial.” The company will rearrange storage and open areas for machinery, including new equipment. The project, slated for completion this fall, also will add some offices. [Read More…]