Two Franklin County manufacturers each received $250,000 grants to invest in new equipment that will drive production and job growth.
Valley Steel Stamp in Greenfield and South Deerfield-based Worthington Assembly were each awarded $250,000 from the Baker-Polito administration last month. Worthington Assembly was also recognized by the state Legislature for its leadership in the manufacturing industry.
Both companies will use the grants to invest in machines and tools that will expand their business, while also offering high-paying jobs to residents in the region.
Worthington Assembly has invested its grant into new pick-and-place machines that will assist in constructing circuit boards and other technology so small a microscope is needed to inspect it.
Co-owners Neil Scanlon and Rafal Dybacki said Worthington Assembly, which assembles circuit boards mainly for the medical industry, along with other, smaller orders, said this “totally critical” grant helps a small manufacturing center invest a large amount of money toward replacing machines from 2007 with ones made this year. They estimated these machine upgrades and other investments totaled $1 million, which is “difficult for a small business.”
“What a lot of people don’t realize with this, is how quickly this equipment becomes obsolete,” Scanlon said. “If you go back to 2007, that was a big investment. It’s a dinosaur.”
Worthington Assembly employs 36 people at its South Deerfield manufacturing site and Scanlon said this investment will “help with new hires,” especially as they take on “more advanced work.”
On Friday morning, state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, presented the state Manufacturing Leadership Award to Worthington Assembly.
“What you have here is very special,” Blais said to Scanlon and Dybacki during a tour of the facility.
“This is a big deal,” Comerford said of Worthington Assembly operating a high-tech business in South Deerfield before adding that her mind “is a little blown” by the advanced manufacturing that takes place there.
Speaking outside Worthington Assembly, Blais and Comerford said this region has a “proud history” of manufacturing and it is great to see “this proud history is continuing on,” especially at a point when job growth is needed.
“The level of excellence is so clear,” Comerford said. “We need business growth in western Massachusetts. It helps to grow our overall economy.”
Valley Steel Stamp’s vice president of human resources, Katie Szelewicki said the grant “really focuses on new product integration,” adding that the money will help “diversify” and “enhance technology for aerospace.”
VSS, which already produces engine and landing gear technology, along with firearms components, will be able to streamline its operations as it works with companies like Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Connecticut.
“We’re bringing goodpaying jobs to Greenfield,” Szelewicki said. “It helps us grow, it helps Greenfield grow. It’s great.”
Szelewicki said the grant is another ingredient contributing to the company’s rapid growth. It has already filled a second building with employees and manufacturing machines. New contracts and cutting-edge technology, she added, attract new employees. VSS has already hired 40 new people this year.
“It’s crazy how it evolved over the years,” Szelewick said walking around the company’s second building. “We continue to see growth for the next five years.”