Porvair to break ground on 7,000 square foot expansion

10 years ago

    CARIBOU, Maine — Porvair Filtration’s manufacturing center in Caribou, formerly known as Chand Eisenmann Metallurgical, will soon begin expanding their facilities with a 7,000 square foot addition to their site at 15 Armco Avenue.

General Manager Harold Dubay said that construction could start as soon as this week, with the addition slated to see mainly manufacturing use once it’s completed in approximately December.
Dubay said that the increased space for manufacturing, which will includes offices and conference rooms on its second floor, was needed to handle the company’s sales volume.
“It’s going to be a nice space that we’ve needed for a long time,” Dubay said on Tuesday.
Creating that space will be Bowman Constructors out of Newport, Maine, with earthwork by Caribou-based Soderberg Construction and engineering designed by CES, Inc out of Presque Isle; Assistant City Manager Tony Mazzucco explained that Porvair’s expansion represents more than a million dollars in building costs alone.
“We’re happy that a company that has a specialty like theirs, a reach like theirs and an employment base like theirs is investing in Caribou,” said Mazzucco; he also serves as the city’s code enforcement officer and was happy to report that Porvair was able to get their permits to start construction the same day they brought in their engineered plans — save a few technical items that will need approval with the planning board later this month.
“The plans are sound and the buildings are ready to go forward … and we’re very excited about what over a million dollar investment into the industrial base of our community,” Mazzucco added.
Porvair currently has 37 employees in Caribou, where they specialize in making custom-order metal filters that can be as small as a grain of pepper or as big as 18 inches across.
Dubay is predicting a need for more employees in the next five years, possibly beginning sometime next spring.
“It depends on how much business we’re able to get,” he explained.