Centro Hampton Facility Up And Running

Last June Centro Inc., a rotational molding company based in North Liberty, announced it was expanding into the Hampton area with its purchase of a 30,000 sq ft building at 1235 Imperial Road, the last remaining Hampton Industrial park spec building. At the time the company said it would add two rotational molding lines to the plant, its 11th facility, and create thirty jobs over three shifts that paid from $19.50 to $22.70 per hour. 

Approximately 36 weeks later it has one line fully operational, operates two shifts, has added 33 jobs so far and is looking to fill at least 8 more positions, with a goal to get to 41 employees, according to Craig Radnich, Operations Manager. Radnich remarked that he’s the only transplant at the plant, having come from North Liberty after working there eleven and a half years as a Business Process Manager, quickly adding though the rest of the staff is from the area, essentially creating forty jobs. 

The company, which makes molded tank products for the agriculture, forestry and construction industry, expects to have its second molding machine in place in March and open up a third shift in the next few weeks. Currently the company has been running two 10 hr shifts, 5am-3pm, and 3pm to 1am. Radnich said they’d been running longer shifts to get caught up on orders they’d gotten behind on “due to the newness of the facility and getting the bugs worked out.” 

The production line started Jan 16th after workers received training in Waterloo, and began with sample parts, so the first week’s production was all qualification and quality control related. The week after saw light production, which then expanded to the two shifts. The company will go back to standard 8 hours shifts in approximately the second week of March. 

The two rotational molders, a 3700 unit installed, and a 2600 to be added soon, make construction, forestry, and fuel tanks, and construction, forestry, and def tanks respectively, and a few odds and ends tank products. The tanks are made from granular resin which is molded, then finished and assembled, quality tested in a water tank on site, then racked for shipment. 

The company is advertising to fill the remaining vacancies, 5 product inspector/finisher positions, 1 machine operator and 1 quality assurance position through postings on Indeed.com and the company’s website, Centroinc.com. An additional two hires will potentially be added to cover vacancies and attrition as situations warrant. The company’s jobs on Indeed show a pay scale of from $20 to $23.20 per hour. 

Radnich said demand for the company’s products is strong from forestry, which never slows down, and is steady from the construction industry as well. He said the facility doesn’t have much exposure to ag. 

Radnich himself bought a house here and moved to Hampton from Parnell, Iowa, after being offered the opportunity by Centro. He and his wife decided that the move made sense since his two children, 9yr and 3yr old boys were young and Hampton just happened to be dead center between he and his wife’s families. In North Liberty he ran “Group 2” which was six molders and two teams, so Radnich is well suited to head up the Hampton operation.  

Out on the factory floor it’s bright and orderly, with machines humming and workers buzzing about, molding tanks, separating molds, assembling tanks, pressurizing them, dunking them to check for bubbles, “no bubbles no troubles” says Radnich, then racking them and loading for 3rd party shipping, then refilling the mold with raw material and doing it all again.

When the 2600 unit is fully installed the company will run standard shifts from 7am - 3pm, 3pm - 11pm and 11pm to 7am. Job seekers can find the company’s employment offerings on Indeed.com by searching Centro, Hampton, and on the company’s website, Centroinc.com/career.