POST FALLS — ATC Manufacturing broke ground on its expansion project at its Post Falls Facility located on North Lean Street on Tuesday. The project will expand its facility by 57,365 square feet and “could double” its workforce capacity, according to project officials. 

“It’s a gamechanger,” said ATC Manufacturing President Pat Jones. “It’s an opportunity for us to grow into a completely different aspect of the thermoplastic composites and aerospace business.” 

According to a company report, the facility builds on the $7 million contract from the United States Air Force Research Laboratory for “large scale, high-rate thermoplastic composite aircraft structures” that ATC was awarded in March. 

The expansion project is estimated to be complete by Summer 2027. The company already has several projects lined up to quickly fill its new capacity, per an ATC report. 

Both Mayor Randy Westlund and Councilman Marc Lucca attended the event. During his speech, Westlund said he was proud to see “such an amazing investment in the community.” 

“I would like to see more of this, this trend of ‘We’re going to make things in America again,’” Westlund said. 

Lucca called the expansion a “great opportunity” for Post Falls to make investments in manufacturing and to bring those jobs “not just back to America, but back to Post Falls.”

According to an ATC report, the demand for thermoplastic composites is expected to grow "substantially across markets” and is a shift in demand that the expansion is designed to accommodate. It said the expansion will increase its capacity to meet demands from both commercial and defense customers. 

Besides workforce expansion, the project will also allow for larger equipment to be stored and used on-site, according to ATC Business Development Manager Jason Merrifield. He said “the sky is the limit” in how the expansion could grow ATC’s product development and output.  

Merrifield, who lives in the area, said he thinks the expansion is a “big deal” and that ATC provides lots of jobs to engineers and skilled workers. 

“It’s great to see that we can do it here and that we can grow on this site,” he said. 

Jones said Post Falls is valuable to the company and that City Hall and other departments have been very supportive of ATC Manufacturing and its work. He also thanked Baker Construction for its work and cooperation. 

“It’s been wonderful as far as a business environment for us to exist in,” Jones said. 

Jones declined to comment on the price of the expansion. 

    An aerial rendering of the completed expansion project.