Mequon company to purchase Grafton Rexnord plant

Vacant facility in industrial park to be acquired by Yamato Scale in April

THE FORMER REXNORD plant in Grafton’s industrial park has been vacant for a year. Yamato Scale of Mequon is expected to fill the space by early summer with 70 employees. Press file photo
By 
JOE POIRIER
Ozaukee Press Staff

The former Rexnord FlatTop Conveying Solutions plant in Grafton that closed last year is expected to have a new tenant.

Yamato Scale Co. of Mequon is to meet with the Village of Grafton Plan Commission on Wednesday, March 24, to review a conditional-use permit in order to move its entire operation to Grafton’s industrial park. Village Development Director Jessica Wolff said the project is expected to be approved by the committee.

“I knew the site would not sit vacant for very long because there is a high demand in property for our industrial-business park,” she said. “Yamato is a great company to fill that space.”

According to village documents, Yamato will occupy 66,300-square feet of the 96,500-square-foot facility at 1272 Dakota Dr. It will have 70 employees. Rexnord previously had 140 employees who were laid off beginning in January of 2020 before the plant closed operations last March.

Plans also show the building will be remodeled to include offices, restrooms, a cafeteria, shipping and receiving areas, assembly and demonstration and machining areas.

 
The listing price for the property is $5.5 million. The sale price has not been agreed to, Wolff said.

Depending on village approval, Yamato plans to purchase the facility in April and will move its operations to Grafton in early August.

According to village documents, Yamato which makes scales primarily for food and product packaging, will use the space for assembly, customization and distribution.

Officials from Yamato did not return phone messages from Ozaukee Press about seeking comment regarding the property acquisition.

The former Rexnord plant that specialized in conveying systems launched at its most recent facility in the early 1990s after moving from another plant in Grafton near Highway 33.

Rexnord filed a notice of closing with the Department of Workforce Development in March 2020.

A former Rexnord FlatTop employee told Ozaukee Press that the company was planning to move its operations to Mexico. At the time, the employee said workers were asked to train their replacements with interpreters.  

The factory produced conveyor systems for Anheuser-Busch Cos., MillerCoors and also companies in the auto and aeronautics industries.

 

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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