Goodrich To Cut Ribbon On $76M Expansion
Goodrich ISR Systems, a subsidiary of the national aerospace and defense systems company Goodrich Corp., will cut the ribbon on a $76 million expansion of the company's operations in Westford on Tuesday, a project that could eventually employ up to 700 workers.
Goodrich ISR - which stands for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance - has spent the past few years planning its move from Chelmsford to Westford, where the company will be consolidating two offices into one.
Goodrich will receive a $4 million tax credit over the next 13 years on the project. The Economic Assistance Coordinating Council, which runs the Economic Development Incentive Program, approved the tax credit last year.
A ceremonial ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of the project is planned in Westford on July 19. More than 500 Goodrich employees are expected to join Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-MA and Gregory Bialecki, secretary of the state Office of Housing and Economic Development, at the event.
Off Roading
Goodrich, which used to be known as tire company BF Goodrich, sold the tire portion of its business in 1984 to Michelin and since then has focused on aerospace and defense contracting.
The company creates parts, systems and services for airline companies such as Boeing, and is a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. It's headquartered in North Carolina.
The company's ISR division had been headquartered in Chelmsford, but the company is moving the employees of another one of its Goodrich ISR facilities in Barrington, Ill., to Massachusetts. To accommodate additional workers, the company needed a larger footprint, according to Julie Mears, a spokesperson for Goodrich.
Because of the financial benefits for staying in the area, Massachusetts was a good choice for consolidating offices, she added.
The company has moved 344 jobs from Chelmsford to Westford and could hit its 700-person goal by 2013.
Goodrich officials have completed the fit-out of 7 and 9 Technology Dr. in Westford, which is part of a massive one-million-square-foot technology park near Interstate 495 named Tech Park East.
The company leases the 230,000 square feet of space from The Gutierrez Co., a commercial real estate and construction firm based in Burlington. Other companies in the park include Light Lab Imaging, Tyco, Veroxity and IBM.
Guttierez also owns Tech Park West, located near I-495 on the western part of town. That complex is permitted for 975,000 square feet of build-out, according to Jason Denoncourt, a project manager with Guttierez, but currently only has two tenants: Red Hat and NetScout Systems Inc.
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