Franks is back as majority owner after eight years and plans are under way to about double the size of Steam Systems’ fabrication shop. For the project, Middletown City Council on Dec. 7 approved a 10-year, $24,145 tax abatement.
The expansion is being fueled by new customers picked up last year, including the builders of a solar array in Florida. In addition, Franks expects the government to release money to replace natural gas lines and upgrade water treatment facilities, which could add additional business, he said.
Steam Systems’ main line of business is servicing the steam systems of paper mills. Franks founded the company out of his home in 1990, selling steam system equipment, and later expanded the business to provide maintenance, inspection, testing and repair of the equipment to paper mills. There are several U.S. offices, according to its website.
The company opened in Middletown in 1996 and expanded in two years by 4,500-square-feet, plus an additional 2,000-square-feet of office space with a second floor, Franks said. The fabrication portion of the business was purchased in 2007.
He said the upcoming expansion adds another 4,500-square-feet, a roughly $220,000 investment. It’s expected to start as soon as all the permits are obtained, and Franks said it will take about three months.
Along with that, two part-time jobs will be converted to full-time for a total 19 full- and about 30 part-time employees. Another two full-time positions will be added in a couple years, he said.
Revenues were up 40 percent to $4.8 million from 2009 to last year after dropping 35 percent the year before, Franks said. 2010 will close at about $6.8 million in revenues.
“I credit it to a lot of long-term employees. We have a lot of long-term employees for being a 20-year-old company,” he said.
Staff writer Jessica Heffner contributed to this report
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