Protomet breaks ground Friday on a $6.25 million expansion in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park. Pictured above from left are Operations Director Andrew Jenkins and Engineering Director Matt Reid of Protomet; LeRoy Thompson, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development regional director; Protomet President Jeff Bohanan; Sherry Browder, Oak Ridge Economic Partnership chair; Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan; and David Wilson, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board chair.
Protomet Corp. broke ground on Friday on a $6.25 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Bethel Valley Industrial Park, allowing the company to more than double its space, consolidate operations with a Blount County facility, and expand production.
The expanded facility, which could be complete by the end of the year, will have more  than 40,000 square feet, and it will bring more than 30 jobs to Oak Ridge, a press release said. It is the second multi-million dollar investment at the company’s Oak Ridge site.
Local and state elected officials joined economic development leaders and Protomet employees at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
Established in 1997, Protomet is a precision manufacturer that works in the marine, medical, homeland security, automotive, housing and other industries. Protomet also markets its own recreational boating products under the brand PTM Edge.
The Oak Ridge City Council approved a five-year, 100 percent tax break for the Protomet expansion in April.
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 payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or 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.
Bohanan is already considering another expansion, possibly a half-dozen years from now.
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