Nike makes plans for expansion of airbag factory

PORTLAND — Nike’s expansion campaign keeps on growing.

The latest: The company intends to launch a $40.5 million expansion of its Beaverton airbag factory that manufactures the tiny air pillows built into the soles of its athletic shoes.

Nike filed plans with the county to build a 140,500-square-foot expansion to the existing 217,000-square-foot facility near the intersection of Southwest Terman Road and Southwest Hocken Avenue. The facility is operated by Nike IHM (in-house manufacturing), a subsidiary.

After topping $30 billion in annual sales in its last fiscal year with plans to reach $50 billion by 2020, Nike has embarked on an ambitious building campaign. At the company’s main campus, just west across Southwest Murray Boulevard from the airbag factory, crews from Hoffman Construction are building three new office buildings totaling 1.3 million square feet as well as three parking garages. The total cost will top $350 million.

Nike IHM is based in St. Charles, Mo., where it operates another air bag factory. It has its roots in the long partnership between Nike and Tetra Plastics of Missouri, which began working together in 1981. Nike bought Tetra in 1991, eventually renaming it Nike IHM.

Unusual for a Nike subsidiary, Nike IHM also develops plastic products for other customers.

It’s unclear how many jobs could be created as a result of the expansion. According to plans on file with the county, the company will expand its parking lot at the site by 363 spaces. Nike made headlines last year when it said it could move as many as 10,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs to the U.S., in part thanks to cutting-edge advances in manufacturing technology.

The Nike IHM expansion is not part of that initiative, said company spokesman Greg Rossiter. “This is a different facility that’s expanding along with so much of the rest of the operations here,” he said.