Process Cooling Systems' growth fuels 60,000-square-foot expansion
Photo | Courtesy
Process Cooling Systems staff at the National Plastics Expo in Florida. From left: Shane Dandy, application engineer; Derrek Davis, South Carolina sales/project manager; Dave Douce, owner; Ted Rudy, owner; Matt Blanchard application engineer;
Dan Rudy, project manager.
Leominster-based process water systems manufacturer Process Cooling Systems is growing rapidly and will consolidate its two locations in Leominster and Fitchburg into one 60,000-square-foot building in Leominster. Co-owner and Treasurer David Doucet told WBJ in an interview the company is currently bursting at the seams in its current facilities and needs more space to grow.
What does Process Cooling Systems make, exactly?
We build water recirculating systems for the plastics industry, but we do a lot of other work in non-plastics, like bakeries and breweries. We even do some work with Saint Gobain in Worcester.
How long has the company been at its current location?
Currently, we’re working out of two buildings. We’ve been at this address in Leominster since the early 1990s. We also have another building in Fitchburg.
What were the factors behind the expansion?
We’ve been growing steadily for years. We outgrew this facility a few years ago, so we bought another facility in Fitchburg to buy us some time. We use it for warehousing, but we started manufacturing a lot of the tanks we build over there. It’s just become cumbersome to be working out of two locations. We want to be under one roof in a nicer building.
Why did the company choose to stay in Leominster?
We were looking around in different communities and we called Leominster to see what they could offer us. We started here, and I started here back in the early 1980s when there were only three of us. Leominster came to the table with a 10-year tax increment financing agreement for $680,000. We were also able to get a state job creation grant.
What has that growth been like?
Myself and my two other partners bought the company from the prior owners in 2004. Then, we had 20 employees. Now, we’re up around 60. We’re planning on adding more as time progresses, but we have no room for them now. We have to set up temporary offices for three new engineers that just started.
Is the company building new or renovating? When did that work start?
The building will be brand new on Research Drive. We just broke ground. The lot was pad ready when we bought it. We worked on this all last summer and closed on it this year. Preliminary construction work started about a month ago.
How much is the company investing?
We’re looking at approximately $6 million, but that could go up with equipment we might need to buy.
What does the new building offer that the current building doesn’t, other than space?
It’s going to have more employee amenities. We don’t even have a break room where we are now. We just don’t have space for it. It’s going to be a brand new, state-of-the-art facility with nice, fresh offices. Manufacturing space will be 150-by-360, so it will be a lot more wide open. We’ll have new overhead cranes and spray booths. The workflow should be more efficient.
So, the company is staying busy, I assume?
We’re very busy. We just had an exhibit at the National Plastics Expo in Orlando. That really helps to boost our business and it puts us on the map.
This interview was conducted and edited by WBJ Staff Writer Zachary Comeau.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments