It's been a very busy past couple of years at Motion Industries, and it appears that isn't slowing down any time soon.
Alabama news site Al.com reports that the MRO parts and services distributor — No. 6 on Industrial Distribution's 2017 Big 50 List — plans to expand its headquarters just outside of Birmingham, AL in a $9.6 renovation that will add 20 percent capacity to the existing facility there.
Al.com cites Joe Limbaugh, Motion Industries vice president of operations, distribution and properties, for those details, with him adding that the expansion will make room for at least 50 new employees. The Irondale headquarters currently employs approximately 600 people.
The report says the Irondale City Council approved a tax on abatement May 29 that will assist Motion Industries with the project.
According to Limbaugh, Motion's current headquarters was originally built in the 1970s and was renovated in the 1980s and 1990s. This next renovation will be a complete modernization of the facility. The report stated the cost of goods for construction is an estimated $2 million.
Motion Industries — which has more than 600 locations throughout North America and serves more than 300,000 customers — has been actively expanding over the past year through acquisitions and organic growth. On May 18, it announced the acquisition of Santa Rosa, CA-based MRO distributor Power Industries Inc. for an undisclosed amount. This past March, Motion's parent company, Genuine Parts Company, announced that fellow GPC subsidiary EIS Inc. (No. 22 on ID's Big 50) was merged into Motion as the company's Electrical Specialties Group, effective. Jan. 2. In 2017, Motion completed acquisitions of Cedar Rapids, IA-based Apache Hose & Belting and Los Angeles-based Pneumatic Engineering and opened a new distribution center in Grand Prairie, TX, near Dallas. Looking ahead, Motion is set to open a new Pacific Northwest distribution center in Auburn, WA, about 25 miles south of Seattle.
