{"id":41361,"date":"2023-01-18T09:13:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T14:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/?p=41361"},"modified":"2023-01-18T09:17:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T14:17:28","slug":"smooth-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2023\/01\/smooth-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Smooth Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virnig Manufacturing\u2019s two locations work together<\/h3>\n
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Powder coater specialist Hunter Bishop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s about 1,000 miles from the Virnig Manufacturing facility in Rice, Minnesota<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0to the company\u2019s second location in Pikeville, Tennessee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As teams from both locations work together, though, it\u2019s like they\u2019re in the same room thanks to state-of-the-art fiber internet technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

In business in Minnesota since 1989, Virnig Manufacturing produces skid steer attachments for tractors and other\u00a0<\/span>heavy machinery<\/span>. Equipment\u00a0<\/span>manufactur<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0takes place<\/span>\u00a0at both locations, and a fiber optic internet network helps keep the process flowing smoothly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe<\/span>\u00a0stream training sessions and meetings<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and we\u2019re able to essentially be in the same room,\u201d says Alyssa Monson, Virnig\u2019s company relations manager<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of the programming and design is web-based<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and both facilities have access to high-speed fiber. In Pikeville, BTC Fiber\u2019s fiber network provides the bandwidth n<\/span>ecessary<\/span>\u00a0to c<\/span>ollaborate<\/span>\u00a0easily.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re<\/span>\u00a0able to communicate and share files seamlessly,\u201d says Robert Goldade, Virnig\u2019s vice president of operations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe<\/span>\u00a0run the two facilities as one. Distance isn\u2019t an issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Virnig purchased the 62,000-square-foot facility in Pikeville in 2021, investing $11.6 million to expand operations and help meet growing product demands in the Southeast.<\/span><\/p>\n

The early years<\/h3>\n

Dean and Lois Virnig both grew up\u00a0<\/span>in rural<\/span>\u00a0Pierz, Minnesota, and knew the importance of reliable repair work for local farms and construction companies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>They established the business in 1989 in a garage on their property just outside Pierz<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and focused on repairs and custom orders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Word traveled fast in the small town and across central Minnesota. Within five years of opening the doors, Dean and Lois moved from their makeshift shop into a larger building and expanded into manufacturing skid steer attachments and dump trailers<\/span>. They\u00a0<\/span>subsequently changed their<\/span>\u00a0company\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0name to Virnig Manufacturing Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the mid-1990s, the company\u00a0<\/span>was\u00a0<\/span>focus<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0more on attachments\u00a0<\/span>like<\/span>\u00a0skid loaders. A high demand for their products<\/span>, along with<\/span>\u00a0limited space<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0led the<\/span>\u00a0Virnigs<\/span>\u00a0to build a state-of-the-art facility in 2001, about 30 miles away\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0Rice, Minnesota.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Continued growth led to an additional facility in 2010<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and they added another 28,000<\/span>–<\/span>square<\/span>–<\/span>foot\u00a0<\/span>building\u00a0<\/span>in 2014<\/span>, which<\/span>\u00a0includes an automated wash bay and powder-coat paint system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span>\u00a0company<\/span>\u00a0added a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>24,000<\/span>–<\/span>square<\/span>–<\/span>foot welding addition and office space for engineering in 2021<\/span>. T<\/span>oday, Virnig Manufacturing<\/span>\u00a0ha<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0almost 200 employees.<\/span>\u00a0A<\/span>ll the growth at the Minnesota location didn\u2019t address the transportation issues with one of their main distributors about an hour north of Atlanta,<\/span>\u00a0however,<\/span>\u00a0Dean says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In late 2021,\u00a0<\/span>the company<\/span>\u00a0started looking for a location within two or three hours of Atlanta. The Chattanooga area\u00a0<\/span>was considered first\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>company officials\u00a0<\/span>connected with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, and Sam Wills, the agency\u2019s southeast regional director.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201d<\/span>He<\/span>\u00a0took us around and showed us some great locations,\u201d Dean says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThen<\/span>\u00a0Sam asked us if we\u2019d consider being further out, in a more rural area, and he told us about Pikeville.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the Virnig family went on a few trips across the\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>outheast<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to scout other possible locations<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe<\/span>\u00a0saw a lot of nice places, but it just felt right every time we came back to Pikeville,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Dean<\/span>\u00a0says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Virnig team met with\u00a0<\/span>Pikeville\u00a0<\/span>city and\u00a0<\/span>Bledsoe C<\/span>ounty officials, they felt welcome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt<\/span>\u00a0felt similar to the area we\u2019ve always been used to,\u201d Dean says.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the help of city and state officials,\u00a0<\/span>Virnig<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>searched for a new facility and ultimatel<\/span>y found the\u00a0<\/span>Pikeville\u00a0<\/span>property that suited the<\/span>\u00a0company\u2019s needs\u00a0<\/span>perfectly.\u00a0<\/span>Virnig<\/span>\u00a0bought the 62,000<\/span>–<\/span>square-foot building in November 2021 and started renovations. In early 2022, production started<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and the company hosted an open house last May<\/span>\u00a0which was attended by the\u00a0<\/span>governor and other state and local officials.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThey<\/span>\u00a0really made us feel welcome throughout the entire process<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and that cemented the decision that we made to locate in Pikeville,\u201d Dean says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The manufacturing process<\/h3>\n

Virnig\u2019s facilities in\u00a0<\/span>Minnesota<\/span>\u00a0and Pikeville encompass all aspects of the manufacturing process, from engineering and cutting raw materials to machining, welding and painting all of its skid steer attachments in-house.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The company\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>already see<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0the savings in transportation costs. Equipment\u00a0<\/span>made in Pikeville travels more quickly, and less expensively,<\/span>\u00a0to the Georgia distributor and to the\u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>ast\u00a0<\/span>C<\/span>oast for easier access to shipping along the\u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>astern\u00a0<\/span>S<\/span>eaboard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the company has grown substantially over the\u00a0<\/span>p<\/span>ast 30 years, the mission of providing a high-quality, durable product has\u00a0<\/span>been \u2014\u00a0<\/span>and will continue to be<\/span>\u00a0\u2014<\/span>\u00a0the same in Pikeville<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>P<\/span>lant\u00a0<\/span>M<\/span>anager Roger Woitalla, who worked at the Rice facility for 24 years<\/span>, will lead that effort.\u00a0<\/span>He and his family relocated to Pikeville a year ago.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cMy<\/span>\u00a0family loves it here,\u201d Roger says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The expansion in Pikeville will eventually create 74 new jobs in Bledsoe County. About 20\u00a0<\/span>people\u00a0<\/span>are currently on the payroll.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0hired some really good people, and that has allowed us to get everything going and up to speed,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Roger\u00a0<\/span>says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Content provided with permission by BTC Fiber.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virnig Manufacturing\u2019s two locations work together It\u2019s about 1,000 miles from the Virnig Manufacturing facility in Rice, Minnesota,\u00a0to the company\u2019s second location in Pikeville, Tennessee.\u00a0As teams from both locations work together, though, it\u2019s like they\u2019re in the same room thanks to state-of-the-art fiber internet technology. In business in Minnesota since 1989, Virnig Manufacturing produces skid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":41362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41361"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41369,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41361\/revisions\/41369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}