Framing has been completed on the 200,000 square foot window and door manufacturing plant being built in mid-Missouri’s Eldon, south of Jefferson City.
Quaker Windows and Doors is building a new $63 million plant in central Missouri’s Eldon (October 2019 photo courtesy of Quaker)
State Department of Economic Development (DED) central region manager Michelle Hataway says Freeburg-based Quaker Windows and Doors is expected to create 290 new full-time jobs in Eldon.
“Average wage for the new full-time employees is going to be over $43,000, which is 130 percent of the (Miller) county average wage,” Hataway says.
Hataway says the company is investing $63.3 million in the project, and expects hiring to begin in the spring.
Construction crews have begun to install the roof on the massive plant. Hataway tells Missourinet that Quaker is the talk of Eldon and the region.
“The Chamber of Commerce is extremely excited. When you drive by their new site on (Highway) 52 right there, it says welcome to Eldon. Quaker coming 2020,” says Hataway.
Quaker Windows and Doors began operations in 1949, and was started by Marge and Bud Knoll. The Knoll family was well-known across mid-Missouri. The company is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Quaker manufactures windows and doors for commercial and residential projects, and has its headquarters and two plants in Freeburg.
Hataway says Quaker will partner with the Eldon Career Center to offer apprenticeships to high school juniors and seniors.
“We (DED) work with a lot of projects across the state and I can tell you that a lot of communities are looking at this to see how they are pioneering the solution to workforce,” Hataway says.
About 1,100 of the 1,900 students in the Eldon School District qualify for free and reduced lunch, and Mayor Larry Henderson has told Missourinet that he wants to create a community with good jobs that kids will stay in and want to come back home to.
Hataway also praises the various partners that DED has worked with on this project, including Ameren Missouri, Miller County, the Eldon Career Center and the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
The plant is being built along heavily-traveled Highway 52, and MoDOT has widened the turn lane, making it safer for trucks and employees coming into and out of the facility.
Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and state Department of Economic Development manager Michelle Hataway, which was recorded on October 22, 2019:
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