A structural steel fabrication business hopes to move to town and expand, but is looking for tax relief.

Representatives of the business now based in Hopedale appeared before selectmen Monday night to detail their plans and request a tax break known as a Tax Increment Financing agreement, or TIF.

Building Envelope Systems, which began in 2011 by two workers from the former MetroWest Steel off Madison Street in Wrentham, is looking to relocate to a larger building.

They have set their sights on the former Plainville Machine building on High Street.

Co-owner Brett Miller said about 27,000 square feet of the 50,000-square-foot building would be used initially, with the rest for future expansion or other tenants. Their Hopedale building has only 8,000 square feet, forcing some of its cutting and welding work to be done outside.

The company has grown from four to 23 workers, and is expecting to add seven to 10 more with the move, Miller said. It has doubled its revenue each year, is making a $1 million investment in machinery, and has had to sell to other companies about $1 million worth of work.

The business does steel work for schools and businesses, including at Patriot Place in Foxboro, a new Cumberland Farms in Attleboro and even did Tom Brady's Brookline mansion.

"We have a lot more activity this way," Miller said of the Interstate 95/495 area, rather than Hopedale and the Mass Pike.
Selectmen asked about truck traffic, and learned there would be no hazardous materials in the building.

"We're pretty excited. This will help us be a prominent name in the market," Miller said. "It's the right opportunity."

Selectmen voted to place an article on the spring annual town meeting warrant for a tax break, which has to be negotiated between selectmen and the business.

The business is looking at two other possible locations, and Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes said the TIF would be an incentive for it to choose Plainville.

"Plainville Machine was a long established business that employed an awful lot of people," Fernandes said.

"I certainly support such an effort," Selectman George Sutherland said.

 

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