October 19, 2024 | Winona Daily News | By Rachel Mergen
Winona’s OZ Lifting Products will soon have a new home in the city.
The business, which is currently located in a 15,000-square-foot facility on Sixth Street, is planning to move to a 40,000-square-foot building on Innovation Drive that once housed Wenonah Canoe’s kayak facility.
The business is working to prepare the new space at the moment, as it has been gutted and the office space is currently being built out.
Its move-in day is expected to be in January, according to OZ Lifting Products president Steve Napieralski.
Ashley Blum, OZ Lifting Products marketing manager, provides a tour of the company’s Sixth Street facility ahead of the move to a larger Innovation Drive space.
It’ll be the fourth move for the company, which has grown from two employees to 25 since Napieralski, who has 36 years of experience in the lifting and rigging industry, started the business 20 years ago in Winona with a partner who has since retired.
“I think this will be the last move, because we’ll have plenty of space to grow into,” Napieralski said.
The new facility sits on five acres, he said, so there’s ample room for growth.
Ashley Blum, OZ Lifting Products marketing manager, said the company’s racks are completely filled with products. In the past, the business has had to even rent additional space, Napieralski said.
“We’re just flat out of space, which is a good thing. The business has been growing. It’s been great,” Napieralski said.
The business sells multiple lifting products, including davit cranes, hoists and more. End users of the business’ products include Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, Walmart, NASA, the U.S. Navy and Boeing, Napieralski said.
“The new facility has more racking, which means more product, which means we have more products to send out to customers,” Blum said.
Storage space isn’t the only improvement that will come with the new building, though.
“We also will have more advanced testing, and so we can really focus on safety, making sure that all of our products meet the highest safety standards. We’re also doing some engineering advancements,” Blum said.
“We’re really looking forward to getting in that space and just being more efficient,” Napieralski said.
The business farms out the manufacturing of its products, many of which are made in the United States.
In Winona, the business works to put together the items and then test, box and prepare them for sale.
The new space will allow for the business to potentially do some of its own manufacturing in the future, Napieralski said.
The business also plans to add more employees in the future.
For more information about OZ Lifting Products, visit ozliftingproducts.com.
