An Iowa-based recreational vehicle manufacturer is expanding to Waverly and bringing 70 new jobs to the Cedar Valley.

Winnebago Industries, Inc. plans to open a sub-assembly plant in Waverly. The company is in the process of purchasing a 33,400-square-foot building in the the city's Southwest Business Park. Winnebago, headquartered in Forest City, is hoping to close on the deal in the next 45 to 60 days, company officials said when they announced the news on Friday (March 27, 2015).

Purchase and start-up costs for the Waverly building are estimated at up to $2 million.

“Increased consumer demand and elevated retail activity have resulted in the need for us to expand our motor home manufacturing capacity,” Winnebago Chairman, CEO and President Randy Potts said in a news release. “We were pleased to locate a facility that will meet our immediate needs for additional sub-assembly space, and which is also essentially move-in ready. The new facility is also within 100 miles of Forest City, which will enable cost-efficient transportation of component parts to our main campus.”

Workers at the new Waverly plant will assemble the 12-volt wiring system for newly-manufactured motor homes. Those operations will be moved from the Forest City plant, Potts said, but no jobs will be cut at the company's main facility. Potts calls the move a chance for the company to find workers that they are having trouble finding in north-central Iowa.

"The intention is to free up people in Forest City to do other tasks, Potts said. "By relocating this work, we're not moving the jobs, we're just moving the work. This is an effort to free up more people in Forest City to do the work that isn't very practical to relocate."

According to Potts, the Waverly location should make recruitment of workers easier for Winnebago, because the new plant will be located less than 25 miles north of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. The Waverly plant is expected to employ around 70 people, Winnebago officials said.

The company currently employs about 2,400 workers in Forest City. A Winnebago plant in Charles City has nearly 200 workers, while 60 more people are employed at a facility in Lake Mills.

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