Photo by Bill Bittar
State Rep. Kara Rochelle speaks at an economic development forum Wednesday.
ANSONIA — Two manufacturing companies will be expanding operations in Ansonia, city officials said Wednesday.
The Farrel-Pomini Corp., located in the Fountain Lake Industrial Park, is scheduled to purchase 40 acres within the industrial park for a new, 20,000 square-foot warehouse. The completion date is 2021 and the project is projected to add 20 jobs to supplement the current 150 employees working there now, officials said.
Stelray Plastic Products Inc. on Wakelee Avenue plans to expand its 35,000 square-foot facility by another 20,000 square feet and add up to 100 workers.
The tidbits came from an economic development forum Wednesday presented by the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and the City of Ansonia. Ion Bank sponsored the event. The forum was held at Massimino’s Restaurant, a Main Street staple that relocated to a new building across the street from its former location.
City officials also said Better Packages, which left Shelton for Ansonia in 2015, is looking to expand its operation on Hershey Drive.
Better Packages CEO Phil White, Director of Operations Paul Kromberg, and Operations Manager Jeremy Radtke shared stories of their company’s success in Ansonia, including its recent decision to move its manufacturing here from Tampa Bay.
White praised Chamber President Bill Purcell and Mayor David Cassetti’s administration for treating his company’s executives like family during the relocation from Shelton.
Larry Saffran, president of Stelray Plastic Products, said his business is “bursting at the seams.”
“We’re very proud to be part of the Ansonia business community,” he said.
Photo by Bill Bittar
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti
Downtown Ansonia is on the rise, with new restaurants opening on a regular basis. Not every eatery makes it, as is the way in the restaurant industry, but now there are concrete plans to bring new housing to Main Street as well.
Tonino Mavuli, owner of office buildings at 158 and 200 Main St., received approvals earlier this year from the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission to convert the upper floors of the buildings to apartments.
Mavuli said construction on the market-rate apartments should start by December or January.
“We want more people living, shopping and working downtown,” Cassetti said.
Speakers at the forum included Cassetti, Sheila O’Malley, the city’s economic development director and grant writer, John Marini, the corporation counsel, and state Rep. Kara Rochelle, who represents Ansonia and most of Derby in the state legislature.
Rochelle has been a strong advocate for manufacturing training jobs.
She talked about how state legislators are trying to spur the economy.
For example, she said changes to the Connecticut Transfer Act will make it less onerous for businesses to clean up and reuse brownfield properties — of which there are many in the Naugatuck Valley.
However, Rochelle also shared Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) statistics showing the city still has a long way to go.
She said ALICE shows working families who are struggling in the state is 30 percent, while the average in Ansonia is 60 percent.
Click here to learn more about ALICE and how it measures income and quality of life.
Good paying manufacturing jobs can help.
“Our DNA here is to be in manufacturing,” Rochelle said of Ansonia’s working population. “They want to get back to those good paying jobs.”
