A.P. Plasman building Alabama auto parts facility

Ontario auto parts manufacturer A.P. Plasman Corporation is investing up to $16 million to build a production plant in Fort Payne, Ala.

Construction of the 170,000-square-feet manufacturing facility – the Windsor, Ont.-based company’s first in the U.S. – begins this year and production is expected to start in mid-2011.

The new plant’s capabilities will include injection molding, painting and assembly of automotive exterior parts.

As reported in U.S. media outlets, A.P. Plasman president and CEO Dave Wiskel said the decision to locate a plant in Fort Payne is the “biggest milestone and step” that the family-owned company has taken strategically.

He said the new plant supplies items such as front grills, trunk skins and moldings for various auto manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Hyndai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, General Motors and Toyota. A.P. Plasman was one of the GM suppliers of the year for 2009.

The Fort Payne plant will initially employ about 150 people, Wiskel said, with 350 people expected to be working there by 2014.