An Erie manufacturing firm is tripling its space by moving out of the business incubator it has outgrown.
In 2006, Erie Technical Systems moved into a light-manufacturing incubator owned by the Economic Development Corporation of Erie County. With help from a $233,000 loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority, the company will triple its space by moving to a new facility outside of the city in Lawrence Park Township.
Erie Technical Systems VP Tim Porco says a reason for the company’s growth lies in one of its specialties. His business makes high-pressure valves, fittings and other equipment capable of producing pressure of more than 10,000 pounds per square inch. These components are very useful in the process of hydraulic fracturing, which is used to free natural gas from the Marcellus Shale rock formation that underlies much of Pennsylvania.
Another of the company’s product lines includes equipment that fills large containers like bags or boxes. These machines allow manufacturers to put massive amounts of their products in containers, and the products can be loaded into smaller containers once they reach their destinations. “These guys are shipping thousands of pounds of stuff in each container,” Porco says.
Erie Technical Systems has also developed a pallet dispenser that automatically unloads pallets onto a conveyor belt.
Porco says the upcoming move should take place within three months. Erie Technical Systems plans to acquire more manufacturing equipment and add to its workforce of five employees, but details aren’t yet clear.
Source: Tim Porco, Erie Technical Systems
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen