FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WBAY) – Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac broke ground on a major expansion Friday afternoon which will dramatically increase the size of its propeller production facility.

The company says the expansion is necessary to keep up with unprecedented demand right now for stainless steel propellers.

Excavation on the $17 million project is expected to start next week and wrap up next April.

The 30,000-square foot expansion will increase the size of the production facility to about 90,000 square feet.

Twenty-one people will work in the new space. It’s not clear how many will be new hires.

This comes as the company marks its 80th year in business.

In 2008 Mercury Marine almost moved its global headquarters to Oklahoma. State and local officials stepped in to reach a deal and since then the company has grown quite a bit.

“We have been growing tremendously since 2008 and put in over a billion — $1.1 billion — in investments in this community alone since 2008. So the growth has been tremendous and this is just another piece of the puzzle,” company president Chris Drees said.

“We are absolutely committed to Fond du Lac. It’s a great community for what we do. People we require, a technical background we require to do this work. And we couldn’t be happier to invest in the community and, really, I kind of think we are setting the stage here for long-term growth and expansion,” propeller plant manager Dirk Djorn said.

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R)-Glenbeulah was among those at the groundbreaking ceremony.

He said, “You know, Wisconsin has the second-most manufacturing jobs per capita in the nation, and this just furthers our reputation as the place to get quality things.”

Fond du Lac City Manager Joe Moore added, “It’s good for our employment base. It’s good for all of the businesses around the city and the county, so it’s been good for everybody, I think, and it’s obviously wonderful that Mercury decided stay here, but even better that they’ve decided to continue to expand.”