HexArmor has been manufacturing personal protection equipment for industrial workers since it was founded in Grand Rapids in 2002.
“Just the support for entrepreneurs in this environment has been just really outstanding.”
HexArmor Founder and CEO Steve Van Ermen says his company’s $11.4 million expansion will add 59,000-square feet to its global headquarters, creating 100 new jobs.
“Just really an extension of what we built here at the end of 2019, which we thought we were going to be good for a long time and here we are building again after four years.”
Van Ermen says the Grand Rapids talent pool is the main reason his company continues to invest in the community, but expansion beyond West Michigan is not out of the question.
“We have a lot of business in the Gulf Coast, and it probably will make sense to have a distribution center down there at some point, but for now, we’re going to keep it all under one roof.”
Construction has already begun on the expansion and will double HexArmor’s warehouse capacity while enlarging office space.
“It’s well underway here. I’m looking out at all the earth-moving equipment, so we hope to be in the office mid-year and then the warehouse at the end of the year.”
Regional economic growth nonprofit The Right Place assisted HexArmor in securing the MEDC grant.
