Workers signed the final beam that will be added to the new expansion of the facility.
Lacey Watt | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers Inc. (YPPI) held a ceremony on Tuesday for the final beam to be placed on the expansion of the Greenfield facility.
Town officials and YPPI employees came together at the ground breaking and topping off ceremony to sign their names and leave their marks on the beam, which will added on the new expansion.
Batuhan Ak, general manager at YPPI, says that the facility will receive certificate of occupancy in spring of next year, which means it’ll be safe for people to enter the new part of the building.
They plan to finish the internal buildout over that quarter and then in the second half of next year they will begin the transition of equipment from the Indianapolis facility.
“We not only commemorate the beginning of a new chapter, but also honor the remarkable achievements of our original expansion here in Greenfield,” Bill Boehman, vice president of Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit, said at the ceremony.
Phase one of the facility started in July of 2019 and was a 55,000 square-foot building on five acres of land. That phase reached full production capacity in September of 2021.
Boehman said phase one cost more than $20 million, and created more than 200 jobs.
Phase two is the current, new expansion, which adds 110,000 square feet to the facility and will eventually house all of the YPPI propeller finishing capabilities — the ones currently being held in the Indianapolis location. Boehman says this space will specifically be dedicated to the grinding, finishing and boxing of the propellers; and manufacturing more than 300 different kinds of propellers.
Total investment value of phase two exceeds $16 million.
Boehman also stated that the phase two expansion will also help the community, creating more than 100 job opportunities, with the average hourly pay around $25.
Hancock County Commissioner Bill Spalding attended the ceremony and also believes the community will benefit.
“It will only help to further reduce our unemployment rate, which is already very low, and it shows the community our economy is still growing,” Spalding said.
YPPI originally started in the 1960s as a service shop for propellers. Today, the company now designs and builds the stainless steel propellers for distribution around the world for Yamaha Outboards.
Ak says, once everything is complete at the Greenfield facility, they are expecting to be at full production capacity in January of 2025 for their initial target.
After the Indianapolis facility has zero operations in it because of the transfer of equipment and workers to Greenfield, Ak says they plan to sell the building since it will just be a “shell facility.”
