Electro-Mechanical LLC is investing $16.55 million in an expansion into Washington County that will result in 109 new employees who will work in an existing 200,000-square-foot facility.
The announcement was made Tuesday morning during a news conference attended by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, state lawmakers and local officials. It was held at the site of the expansion in the Bristol-Washington County Industrial Park off Lee Highway between Abingdon and Bristol.
“Electro-Mechanical’s significant expansion in Washington County demonstrates the strength of Southwest Virginia’s manufacturing sector and business climate,” Youngkin said in a news release. “The company’s continued growth and investment in the Commonwealth is a testament to our exceptional workforce and strategic location. We are proud to support Electro-Mechanical’s success and look forward to their continued contributions to Virginia’s economy.”
Electro-Mechanical was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Bristol, Virginia. It manufactures products used in the generation, distribution and control of electricity. The company’s expansion will enhance its capacity to produce switchgears and other electrical apparatus, serving clients worldwide.
In Bristol, the company currently has three manufacturing sites, one on Goodson Street, which serves as the corporate headquarters, and the Line Power manufacturing facility, which is just down the street. At Exit 7, the company has the Federal Pacific facility, where switch gears and transformers are made, according to Lisa White, general counsel and vice president of human resources.
Electro-Mechanical also has a facility in Canada, where harmonic filters are made, and another in Mexico, where most of its transformers are manufactured.
Across its facilities, the company employs about 700 workers, and 520 of them are local. Those numbers do not include the 109 new jobs.
The new facility is located on the site that once housed Bristol Compressors, which closed in 2018 and resulted in the loss of about 470 jobs.
The company’s new building will mean that the company has a total of 800,000 square feet of manufacturing space worldwide, said White. She emphasized that the company is growing and adding jobs, and although some manufacturing will be moved around, no jobs will be lost.
The lease for the building was signed Oct. 1 and the design and layout of the facility is being worked on. Equipment has been ordered and the company will be moving in as it arrives. The new employees will be hired during 2025, White said.
Virginia competed against Tennessee for the project. After evaluating multiple locations, a positive response from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the county and the governor’s office helped reaffirm the company’s decision to expand in Virginia, according to Electro-Mechanical President and CEO Howard Broadfoot.
“We are excited to once again be expanding our Bristol, Virginia, operations,” Broadfoot said in the release. “We have experienced tremendous growth in our business over the past several years and this additional manufacturing capacity will allow us to better serve our customers for years to come.”
The governor approved a $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Washington County with the project. The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
Support for Electro-Mechanical’s job creation will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, which accelerates new facility startups through the direct delivery of recruitment and training services at no cost to qualified new and expanding companies as an incentive for job creation, the release states.