Wisconsin-Based iMark Molding Plans $18 Million Expansion

Custom injection molder iMark Molding Inc. will spend $18 million to expand and upgrade its Woodville, Wis., operation.

The centerpiece of the project will be a 22,500-square-foot pharmaceutical grade clean room, which will be expandable by another 18,000 square feet. The project also entails tripling the size of its 38,640-square-foot current facility by the end of 2018, renovating the building and adding more equipment.

"The result of this expansion will be a world-class molding facility that will solidify iMark's position as the leader in supporting Wisconsin's biohealth industry and will help meet the needs of life science companies nationwide," iMark President Mark Sturtevant, who founded the company in 2000, said in a news release.

The company specializes in molding components for medical and diagnostic applications. The firm is striving to become compliant with ISO 18385, a new standard that minimizes the risk of human DNA contamination in products used to collect, store and analyze biological material for forensic and diagnostic purposes.

The 70-employee Woodville operation is a 45-mile drive to the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area, a hotbed of medical products development and production.

The facility expansion includes adding 32,000 square feet of manufacturing, 28,000 square feet of warehouse and shipping and 20,000 square feet of office area.

Sturtevant founded iMark to create a molding company that goes beyond the norm. The company puts a lot of resources into quality control as it implements 5S workplace organization methods. It monitors mold cavity pressure to detect defects and ensure accurate parts are molded. It runs an extensive metrology laboratory that includes a Zeiss coordinate measuring machine.

"iMark is the latest example of the many companies choosing to establish or expand operations in Wisconsin because of our strong business climate and dedicated workforce," noted Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in a news release. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has authorized up to $350,000 in state income tax credits over the next four years, contingent on job creation and level of capital investment during that period.