Briggs & Stratton expanding plant in Poplar Bluff

20,000-foot expansion will add 13 jobs

Business Today

POPLAR BLUFF -- On Jan. 29, management of Briggs & Stratton and JML Construction of Poplar Bluff broke ground for a 20,000-square-foot addition to the main building in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park.

"This will give us additional capacity for our die-cast operation," said plant manager Mark Melloy. "We need to build this to meet the additional growth in our engine business."

Briggs & Stratton, headquartered in Milwaukee, is an international company that manufactures small air-cooled gasoline engines that are used for lawn mowers, generators, pressure washers, snow throwers and other yard-care products.

Construction on the new addition is expected to be finished by August and production will start in September.

The new facility will mean jobs for about 13 new employees, Melloy said.

The increased output of the die-cast operation will add to the district output.

"A lot of it is going to be making products for our sister plant in the small engine division, namely Rolla," Melloy said. "It will allow division increases of about 5 percent of production. It will also mean additional capacity here in the plant, but the most additional capacity will be at the Rolla facility."