Protomet Corp. is having a June 14 groundbreaking ceremony for a $6.25 million expansion that will more than double the size of its current manufacturing space.
The expansion will add 30 jobs to Protomet, and it is the second multi-million dollar investment in the company’s Oak Ridge facility, a press release said.
Protomet is at 1010 Clarence Larsen Drive in Bethel Valley Industrial Park. The ceremony on Friday morning, June 14, will include comments by Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan; Kim Denton, president and chief executive officer of the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership; David Wilson, chair of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board; and Protomet President and CEO Jeff Bohanan.
The Oak Ridge City Council approved a five-year, 100 percent tax break for Protomet in April. Officials said the tax break could be used to help Protomet more than double the size of its 15,000-square-foot plant, consolidate operations with a Blount County facility, and add 20-30 workers.
Protomet’s first expansion was in 2005. Since then, the company’s sales have grown by a factor of five, Protomet President Jeff Bohanan said in April. The company received a four-year, 100 percent tax abatement for its first expansion.
The new PILOT agreement will apply only to new investment at Protomet’s eight-acre site in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park. Plans call for another 21,000 square feet of space, an enlarged assembly area, and more space for machining tools. The expansion will also allow the company to consolidate with 4FinalFinish, an aluminum finishing business that Protomet took over in 2008. 4FinalFinish now operates independently in Blount County.
Protomet started in 1997, and among other things, it makes uranium detection devices for homeland security and mirror assemblies for tow boats.
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