Winnebago to Open Additional Manufacturing Facility in Iowa

Winnebago Industries Inc. recently announced plans to expand its manufacturing footprint to nearby Lake Mills, Iowa.

The recreation vehicle manufacturer and the city of Lake Mills have come to an agreement on a 5-year lease of the 100,000-square-foot plant formerly owned and operated by Cummins Filtration. The Lake Mills facility will be used for the production of Winnebago's Class B motorhomes.  

"This is a definite win-win for us," said Randy Potts, Winnebago chairman, CEO and president. "The Lake Mills facility is much larger than our current Class B production facility in Charles City and allows us to expand our growing Class B motorhome line."

Winnebago's Class B market share in the U.S. has been steadily rising from 7.8 percent in 2011 to 17.9 percent through September 2013.

The company plans to begin the process of staffing and equipping the Lake Mills facility immediately, with the goal of starting initial production by early February. The Charles City facility will continue to manufacture Class B motorhomes as the company transitions to the Lake Mills facility and moves other subassembly operations to Charles City.

"With the close proximity of Lake Mills, it's very cost effective to transport components and motorhomes the 16 miles between Lake Mills and our headquarters in Forest City," Potts said. "In turn, it allows us to transition our current Class B production facility in Charles City to additional subassembly operations." 

For more information, visit www.winnebagoind.com.