ELKHART — Thor Industries announced Monday that its Jayco subsidiary has broken ground on several building projects, with some near completion or recently completed.
The new facilities, which are in response to the growing demand for Jayco’s travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers and motorhomes, will add more than 400,000 square feet of production space to its Middlebury campus and more than 300 expected jobs.
“The growth Jayco has experienced over the past few years pushed our current production facilities to maximum capacity, so the new buildings will help us not only meet current demand for our products, but give us the space we need to continue to grow,” said Matt Thompson, Jayco Inc.’s chief operating officer.
The new buildings include two manufacturing plants, one that will produce the Eagle brand of travel trailers and fifth wheels, and another that will produce Jayco’s line of luxury fifth wheels, including the North Point, Pinnacle and Designer. The added facilities will free space in the current production facilities for additional Jay Flight and light weight travel trailer production, company officials said.
In addition, Jayco has added a dedicated mill room and lamination facility for Jayco’s motorized products.
“Our end goal is to continue to provide top level products and service to our dealers and retail customers,” Thompson said. “We want to continue to set the standard for the industry and the new buildings give us the space we need to do so.”
The Eagle travel trailer and fifth wheel plant will be fully operational by early February, adding approximately 200 jobs, while the second towable plant is expected to be completed and operational by mid-June. The mill room facility has been operational since October and the lamination facility is expected to come online by the end of March.