‘It means everything’: Dubuque manufacturer plans $7M expansion, creating 15 new jobs

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – 15 new manufacturing jobs could be coming to Dubuque in 2026.

Universal Tank & Fabrication creates custom pressure vessels and tanks to filter water, capture landfill gases, vacuum trucks, and more. A $7 million expansion plan would increase its capacity and reduce logjams.

“We have to move a tank 2 or 3 times because there’s no room to put it where we want to put it,” said Universal Tank & Fabrication President Dan Davis. “If we don’t have a booth sized the way or the size we need for a particular product, we have to lay a tank down that otherwise we could leave standing up.”

Davis’ goal for the facility is to create a continuous assembly line from bending metal, welding, blasting, and painting to putting together the finished product. Accomplishing the feat requires more space.

The project would add a 28,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its current structure, moving the blasting, painting, and assembling of products to the new facility. Increasing capacity means more hands are needed to handle more business.

Universal Tank & Fabrication creating 15 new jobs comes as job cuts hit Iowa’s manufacturing sector. In the last year, the state has lost 6,100 jobs in the industry.

Greater Dubuque Development Vice President of Business Services Jason White said by tapping into a variety of markets, Universal Tank & Fabrication helps stave off reductions.

“It’s a cause for celebration,” said White. “One industry that they serve may be down but others might be up. That’s a good way […] to mute their risk. It’s a benefit to the community to foresee that because obviously it protects jobs, and in this case, creates new investments and new jobs.”

Growing the company in opposition to statewide manufacturing trends “means everything” to Davis.

“Nobody’s recession-proof, but we try to put ourselves in a position with the type of work we produce that we can continue to move forward even when the economy is not at its best,” explained Davis. “To be able to bring more people on, maybe people that are struggling to find work or maybe got put out of a job, it means a lot.”

Davis said Universal Tank and Fabrication is getting $730,000 in rebates and tax incentives from city, state, and regional sources to finish expansions by January 2026.

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