The Mayor’s Office announced that the Mayor’s Economic Development Committee has approved a grant of $95,000 to The Arthur G. Russell Company, Inc. as an incentive for building a 20,000 square-foot addition to its sprawling Clark Avenue headquarters. AGR specializes in designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art complex assembly systems used by other manufacturers to mass-produce their end products.
The sizeable addition – slated for completion in January 2017 – will allow AGR to continue its hiring pace, in which they have hired dozens of new employees within the past two years with plans to add 20 full-time positions in the near future. The company’s growth is partially a result of AGR’s acquisition of the operations, inventory, and intellectual property of Bodine Automation Technology, an industry competitor formerly of Bridgeport, in 2014, explained a press release from the mayor’s office.
“Our customer base has grown significantly in the last few years. The Bodine acquisition has allowed us to diversify our business model and product offering. Our products and expertise are in demand more than ever before,” explained Jason Ensminger of AGR in the press release. “Our increase in staff, equipment, and manufacturing space will reduce lead times and create efficiencies, allowing us to serve more customers.”
The 20,000 square-foot addition will primarily encompass manufacturing area space, as well as a small amount of storage space for customer product used in the manufacturing process. Early this year, the release said, the company built out 4,000 square feet of office space for recently hired engineering staff and purchased nearly $700,000 in new equipment to support its growth.
“This is a special project for us because we were on board as AGR was contemplating the Bodine acquisition and the growth that would result,” said Justin Malley of the Bristol Development Authority, according to the press release. “We invited AGR to apply for grant funds to help offset expansion costs associated with future growth. We like to think our working relationship and the potential for incentives made AGR’s decision to acquire Bodine and complete its expansion a little easier.”
“Our success bringing new businesses to Bristol has grabbed headlines, but we are just as proud of serving existing companies that are expanding,” Cockayne stated in the press release. “AGR has been around for more than 70 years, making a commitment to Bristol in 1996 when the company built its state-of-the-art facility on Clark Ave. Now the company is further committing to Bristol, and we are excited to have a small part in that.”