Mickey Truck Bodies is planning to break ground on a 20,000-sq.-ft. liftgate installation facility in March. The facility will be located on the 13-acre site the company purchased in 2015 from Pearson Furniture.

The new facility, which is expected to be operational in July 2017, will house a total of 15 bays for liftgate installations and chassis preparation. The company expects to hire approximately 25 additional employees to handle the workload. Liftgates are one of the most popular accessories on Mickey’s truck bodies, according to the upfitter. Mickey is an authorized installer for all major liftgate brands.

The liftgate facility will be located in the northwest quadrant of the property and represents the first phase of a major expansion program to address the prolific growth of Mickey’s business. Following completion of the liftgate building, Mickey will commence construction on a 70,000-sq.-ft. assembly plant on the former Pearson property.

“This new assembly plant will be the most automated manufacturing plant of its type in the country,” said Dean Sink, Mickey President. “The equipment and fixtures we will be using in this facility are currently in development and will set new standards for safety, quality, and efficiency.”  

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing center will more than double the capacity of Mickey’s existing business to over 15,000 units a year. The company manufactures truck bodies and trailers for the vending, beverage, packaged goods, automotive battery, emergency services, furniture and truck rental markets, among others.  

Landmark Builders of the Triad in Winston-Salem, N.C., is providing turn-key design/build construction management for the projects. Landmark has worked with Mickey to provide significant value engineering to enhance the original concept plans.  

The majority of Mickey Truck Bodies’ 400-plus employees work in North Carolina. The company also owns and operates four regional reconditioning and service centers throughout the U.S.