DANVILLE, Va. – A 51,250-square-foot, $25.5 million Center for Manufacturing Advancement will be going up in Danville.
It will be built adjacent to Kyocera across the street from the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.
The institute's executive director, Mark Gignac, said the center is the next step in the continued development of the area's advanced manufacturing industry.
"Part of the space is used to rapidly launch companies that want to locate to our region," Gignac said. "As I mentioned, we've had some success in that area with four companies from the U.K. over the last couple of years moving here."
The center will give new companies a place to start working while their facility is being built.
That's not all it will do, though.
"We also wanted space for both existing and new companies to optimize their processes. If somebody wants to optimize their assembly line without shutting down their facility, we will have a dedicated space. We will also be able to introduce new technologies, additive manufacturing and evolving technologies," Gignac explained.
Gignac said he anticipates that by the time the CAM opens, it will have tenants ready to use it.
"We, literally, at this time are already developing relationships. We're recruiting companies," Gignac said. "This facility will ensure that we do not lose an economic development prospect."
The center is being paid for by the state and the Danville Regional Foundation and is expected to open in 2021.