Date: Fri 28-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

business-Neumade-factory

Full Text:

Work Begins On Neumade Plant

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Construction has started on Neumade Products Corporation's 60,000-square-foot

manufacturing plant on Peck's Lane.

Concrete footings for the new facility have been poured on the ten-acre,

industrially zoned site to the west of Pecks Lane. The site is across the

street from Dade International and Sorvall, the two firms that now occupy the

plant formerly owned by E.I. DuPont Medical Products, Inc.

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members unanimously approved Neumade's

construction plans last fall.

The start of the project was delayed after the health department required that

septic waste disposal plans be redesigned to better meet health code

standards.

Neumade manufactures metal cabinets to house equipment used by the

photographic, motion picture, television and audio-visual industries. A total

50 workers will be employed at Neumade, of which 30 will be in a manufacturing

section of the building and 20 in an office section. The steel-frame building

will have a masonry exterior.

One work shift is planned for the facility. Manufacturing will take place from

approximately 7:15 am to 4:15 pm, and the offices will be open from 8:30 am to

5 pm.

Neumade is an 80-year-old, family-owned business.

Johnson and Michaelson, Architects, of Branford designed the project. McChord

Engineering Associates, Inc, of Wilton did the engineering work. The property

owner is Rojo Enterprises, a limited liability corporation of Norwalk.

Neumade will be served by United Water's public water supply system and Yankee

Gas's natural gas system. Some 63 on-site parking spaces will be provided.

Plans indicate the potential for an additional 18 parking spaces.

Neumade will consolidate three of its operations at the local site. Its

Buffalo, N.Y., and Cedar Knolls, N.J., manufacturing operations and its

Norwalk sales office will be consolidated here.

The firm uses sheet metal to build cabinets for the professional motion

picture projectors used in theaters. It also builds film handling equipment,

and manufactures microfilm equipment, lighting controls and film storage

equipment, among other media products. Its products are sold to the

entertainment industry, government agencies, hospitals and museums.

The estimated value of the factory construction project is $3.5 million.