Furniture company moving to Sparta

La Crosse Tribune, Jun 23, 2004 by Cahalan, Steve

After 20 years on French Island, Lynkris Patio Furniture Inc. will move this fail to an 11,000-square-foot building it plans to construct in the East Side Business Park at Hwy. 16 and Interstate 90 in Sparta, Wis.

Bruce Webster of Sparta, who bought the business in October 2000, will receive 3 1/2 acres of free land in the industrial park, which is owned by the Sparta Industrial Park Corp. SIPCO is a partnership between the city of Sparta and Xcel Energy.

"We're real happy to have Bruce relocating (the business) here to Sparta," Sparta City Administrator Ken Witt said Tuesday. Free land is available to businesses that build industrial or commercial buildings of a specified minimum size, he said.

"That's a pretty good incentive," Webster said of the free land. "You hate to leave the La Crosse area. The company's been here for 20 years, and there's been a good retail base here." But Lynkris has outgrown its 6,000 - square-foot foot leased building at 1524 Bainbridge St. on French Island, and there isn't room to expand there, he said.

Lynkris makes patio and pool-side furniture for motels, hotels, resorts, golf courses, water parks, campgrounds, apartment and condominium complexes, and single-family homes. It uses vinyl-coated nylon fabric and furniture-grade PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe to make its products.

Webster said lie plans to expand his product lines at the new, larger Sparta building. He also expects employment to increase.

Lynkris has 13 employees in the spring and summer, its peak production months, Webster said. The number drops to as few as two or three in the winter.