WILTON – Business in Wilton may surge within the next year, according to a principal of Nichols Development LLC.
In addition to five new businesses for which the company is seeking permits in the 300,000-square-foot former G.H. Bass shoe factory, Gil Reed said Thursday that “there’s real potential for a big project that could result in 100 jobs.”
Reed declined to identify the out-of-state company he hopes will bring employment to an area hard hit by several mill closings in so many years. He hopes to have an answer by the end of next year’s first quarter, he said.
In the meantime, Reed and his partners will be asking Wilton’s Planning Board to approve permits for five additional businesses to move into the Nichols/Bass Business and Technology Center at 128 Weld Road at its meeting next week.
The new businesses added to existing occupants including Nichols Welding, ICT and a weekly wholesale auto auction, will increase the building’s use to about one-third of its full capacity.
“We’re filling every little corner and hole and leaving space for the big guys,” Reed said.
On the Planning Board’s agenda next Thursday are permit applications for Maine Water and Beverage Company LLC, The Shoe Shop Cafe, The Birch Tree Group, Maine Screen Printing and Curves.
Reed said he is acting as an agent for Maine Water and Beverage, a Vermont-based company that is working with government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security to develop a system to provide drinking water during natural disasters. The system is still in the patent stages, Reed said, so he was not at liberty to discuss the details. Right now, the group is merely looking to rent office space.
However, if all goes well, he expects the company to require manufacturing facilities to produce their product and anticipates fabrication to occur there either as a separate entity or by utilizing Nichols Welding. Reed didn’t know how many jobs this could create.
The Shoe Shop Cafe seeks to provide breakfast and lunch to people working in the complex. It would initially be staffed by one new employee and be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and for expositions like the sportsmen’s or home and leisure shows scheduled for next year there. Fare would include hamburgers, hot dogs and daily home-cooked specials like chowder, Reed said.
The Birch Tree Group plans to lease about 1,500 square feet for a furniture refinishing business that may provide up to three new jobs.
Maine Screen Printing is an expansion of Jerri’s Alterations, already a tenant of the facility. The business would double its occupancy taking up about 2,500 square feet and create at least one new job, Reed said.
He could not say whether Curves’ move from its Wilton Road facility to Weld Road would create any jobs.
Also in the works is the possibility of an in-state manufacturer coming into the facility in the spring that could bring four or five new jobs.
Reed, a resident of Strong, said he enjoys working in Wilton.
“The people of the town of Wilton deserve a big pat on the back,” he said. “They’re great, great people to work with.”
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