February 5, 2008 -- DynaBil Industries Inc., which started 31 years ago in a local garage, is expanding to a new building at a local industrial park, the company said Monday.
DynaBil, which currently has 226 employees, will expand to around 300 by the end of the year, company managers said.
The 33,000-square-foot building, which could be up and running by September, will be at the Greene Business and Technology Park. A groundbreaking is expected in April.
DynaBil makes small titanium and aluminum parts for numerous aircraft, such as the Army's Black Hawk helicopter. The $2.7 million facility will be built by Galesi Group of Schenectady. DynaBil will lease the space.
Paul Burton, president of DynaBil, said the move will allow the company to manufacture larger products for such companies as helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. of Stratford, Conn., and Chicago-based Boeing Co.
"We're growing up the food chain with our customers," he said.
At a news conference Monday evening at Greene Accelerator, a business incubator in Coxsackie, he and other company executives disclosed the plans amid tables covered with the metal parts the company makes.
"This is a New York success story," said Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller. "Greene County to me means dollar signs, and that's good for all of us."
The new building will allow the company to make larger bulkheads, firewalls and other parts previously put together by DynaBil's clients.
"The new facility gives us the expansion that we need," Burton said. "We're currently out of floor space now."
The project received a $750,000 state Office of Small Cities grant and a $400,000 grant from Empire State Development Corp. to support the expansion. The company also will receive Greene County Empire Zone benefits.
In all, 120 jobs are being created -- 50 positions that have already been filled, and 70 more to be filled by the end of the year. Most will be manufacturing jobs paying from $11 to $20 per hour.
DynaBil was created in 1977 by Michael Grosso and Hugh Quigley. Together, they began doing simple welding jobs in a 2,000-square-foot garage. Over time, the business expanded to its current headquarters, which now has more than 65,000 square feet of space. The two owners sold the business to Delta Point Capital Management LLC and HSBC Capital Inc. nearly two years ago.
Burton said he did not expect the company's expansion to be affected by a reduction in military combat operations abroad or by a possible recession in the United States. However, a worldwide recession could have serious impact, he said.
Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at The Teal Group, a research company in Fairfax, Va., said large aircraft manufacturers were looking to pass tasks to their suppliers to allow the big companies to concentrate more on sales and service.
"That's where they make their money," he said. "Everyone wants to move up the food chain -- and leave the manufacturing to people willing to share the cost and the risk."
The aircraft market has expanded in recent years, he said, from $82 billion in 2003 to $118 billion last year. Growth occurred in both military and commercial lines.
"We don't see growth ending until 2010," Aboulafia said. "The backlog is so strong, it would take a couple of years for the effect of an economic downturn to hit deliveries." Wechsler can be reached at 454-5469 or by e-mail at awechsler@timesunion.com.
Source: Times Union (MCT)
