Waterbury officials joined executives from King Industries to break ground Friday on an office park just steps away from Route 8.
"This is probably the biggest coup that this administration has been able to negotiate," said Mayor Neil O'Leary.
King Industries is an additive and chemical manufacturer based in Norwalk with offices in Holland and China. The company purchased a Brownfield site in a business park from the city of Waterbury for $750,000 and will build a warehouse and manufacturing plant.
King Industries executives said they've been in talks with the city of Waterbury for about four years.
"We had specific site criteria," said Bob King, the company's director of operations. "We wanted 11 acres. We wanted to be near a highway and in an industrial park, and as you can see behind me, this is it."
The company will invest $50 million in the site, hiring more than 150 construction workers over 10 years and three phases of construction. In the end, King Industries is expected to employ about 60 people in Waterbury.
Bob King said staying in Connecticut is important for the family owned company. He said Waterbury provides a location rich in history.
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"They’ve really been a cornerstone in Connecticut manufacturing and I think that legacy still stands today and I think it’ll continue," King said.
O'Leary said the company will also work with local schools on job readiness programs.
"They want to form a partnership with our education department and with our young people and get our young people trained with skilled labor into this type of work and that’s really what sold me on King Industries," he said.
O'Leary said more Brownfield sites are in the works to be cleaned and prepped for development and said he thinks the future is bright for more companies to come to Waterbury.
"Waterbury has the history of manufacturing that’s never left us since brass. Manufacturing is coming back into Waterbury. We’ve brought in more than 30 companies over the past four years, many of which are manufacturers, many of which are successful, King Industries is the jewel so far," he explained.
