Two Seymour companies are growing and making changes to increase production and meet the needs of their customers.
Fostech Inc., a local firearms manufacturer, and SpaceGuard Products Inc., which produces wire partitions and area guarding products, received tax abatements last week from the Seymour City Council on their planned investments.
The tax abatements are good for a period of 10 years. For the first year, Fostech and SpaceGuard will not have to pay any taxes on the investments. Each year thereafter, they will be required to pay a percentage, which increases by 10% each year until the abatement expires.
Both projects will lead to the creation of new jobs.
Fostech estimates it will need an additional five new employees who will make around $40,000 per year as a result of the project, bringing its total workforce to 31. SpaceGuard projects a need for four new workers earning around $31,250 in annual salaries, giving them a total of 48 employees.
Located at 320 Myers St. in the former Bender Lumber building, Fostech Inc. is spending $575,000 on new equipment, including a five-axis vertical machining center, and another $500,000 to enclose an area of its facility for storage, build out a retail area and renovate 4,000 square feet of existing space.
Owned by brothers David, Paul and Mark Foster and their cousin, Judd Foster, who serves as company president, Fostech makes Origin-12 shotguns, ultralight AR-15 rifles and a line of firearm accessories. The company designs, builds and produces its products, making it a unique operation.
Judd Foster said right now, it’s not clear if the retail space will be to sell Fostech firearms and accessories or if it will be rented out to another business.
“We do have a lot of interest from customers who would like to be able to come in and buy something from us instead of having to order it,” he said.
In 2018, the business moved from the Reddington area to its current location and sells mainly through wholesalers and its website.
Fostech’s expansion is expected to begin in May and be completed in a year.
SpaceGuard Products, located at 711 S. Commerce Drive, is investing $425,000 in new manufacturing equipment, including a production saw, CNC plasma table and tube cutting machine, press brakes, welders and fixtures, a monorail crane and batch processing powder coat booth and application equipment.
Company President Eddie Murphy said this is the second phase of SpaceGuard’s three-phase expansion after completing a building addition last year.
“This will bring in some new equipment that will improve accuracy and modernize a lot of the equipment we already have on the factory floor,” he said.
Installation will begin in May and should be completed by the end of the year, according to a statement of benefits form the company filed with the city last month.
SpaceGuard Products was formed in 1990 through the consolidation of Logan Wire Co. and Ford Fence Co. Products produced by the company include storage lockers, rack safety panels, aisle guarding and mezzanine rail guarding.
The wire mesh partitions are used for a variety of applications, including machine and robotic guarding, computer security cages and networking facilities, tool cribs and warehouse or retail security.
The company has made products that are used at Cummins Seymour Engine Plant, Valeo Lighting Systems, the University of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center and Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh and on television show and movie sets.
