Kim Hotstart Manufacturing Co., the Spokane Valley maker of pre-heaters for diesel engines, says it has broken ground on a 44,000-square-foot addition to its facility to accommodate its continued rapid growth.


Work started on the $1.5 million project last week and is expected to wrap up by September, says CEO Rick Robinson. The addition, located on the west side of the companys 76,000-square-foot facility, at 5723 E. Alki, will include manufacturing space and a new shipping area, he says.


Kim Hotstart has occupied the facility since 1978, and has expanded it several times over the years, most recently in 1995 when it built a 34,000-square-foot addition, Robinson says. The company has grown at a particularly fast clip over the past five years, and the current expansion project will provide the capacity it needs to meet growing demand for its products, he says.


The company makes engine pre-heaters and accessories for diesel engines and idle reduction heating systems for locomotives and trucks, says spokesman Michael Floyd. The growth in the domestic railroad industry, along with a surge in the companys international sales and rising demand worldwide for standby and emergency power generation systems, has been fueling the companys growth, he says.


The industry has been treating us well, Floyd says.


Kim Hotstart currently employs roughly 140 people, including 26 workers it has added within the past year, Robinson says. It expects to hire 10 more people within the next eight months as a result of the expansion project.


Robinson says the company expects to have $33 million in revenue this year, which he calls a conservative estimate. It had $30 million in revenue last year, up from $26 million in 2006.


Haskins Co., of Spokane, is doing the design-build work on the expansion. Kim Hotstart worked with Greater Spokane Incorporated to obtain a sales-tax savings of $126,000 for the project through Washington states community empowerment zone program. The company is financing the expansion through Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank.


In addition to the current expansion project, the company is looking at remodeling its main facility to add more office space, Robinson says. Plans are still in the conceptual stage for that project, though, he says.


The new addition, which will take up the rest of the companys vacant space on its property, is expected to meet its needs for the next five years. After that, the company likely will have to buy another piece of property in the area or move all of its operations to a larger facility, he says.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyp@spokanejournal.com.