Swiss industrial-power/technology conglomerate ABB Group says it’s preparing to establish a North American product-development center in Bloomfield into which it will unite and add dozens of new jobs over the next three years.
In a Sept. 17 letter to the town, Jim Creevy, ABB’s government relations vice president, disclosed his company is pursuing purchase of an 84,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on 9.25 acres listed for sale at $3.7 million at 45 Griffin Road South from which to “serve our electrification business in North America.”
A letter of intent to purchase the property is pending and the move is expected to be completed by mid-2020, Creevy wrote to Bloomfield Town Planner Jose Giner.
Creevy said ABB’s move is tied to its ongoing integration of General Electric Co.’s former industrial-power business unit ABB acquired for $2.6 billion in July 2018. The unit is now ABB Industrial Power.
In Bloomfield, Creevy said ABB will unite 170 employees from two existing sites — one in Plainville that GE leases to ABB; and ABB’s existing Bloomfield research and development facility at 131 Phoenix Crossing, off Day Hill Road.
ABB also plans to add more than 30 engineering jobs in the new Bloomfield facility over the next three years, he said.
ABB is a partner with Winstanley Enterprises of Massachusetts in the development of Great Pond Village, a master planned, mixed-use community off Day Hill Road, in Windsor. ABB contributed acreage on Day Hill Road acquired in its 1990 purchase of former boiler-maker Combustion Engineering, which had a sprawling campus there.
Giner said Lumentum Electronics previously occupied the 45 Griffin Road South property. He said he hopes to be in touch soon with ABB about its plans for the property so the town can provide timely review and approval of the company’s renovation plans for the space.
“Obviously, we are very excited to have a global company like ABB expand its presence in the town of Bloomfield – especially since they are taking over a space that was recently vacated,” Giner said Wednesday. “The jobs that they bring to Bloomfield are highly skilled positions that pay high-end salaries.”
ABB officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“In the new location, the center will continue to house an engineering design center focused on circuit breakers and equipment for North America customers as well as other functional departments,’’ Creevy wrote. “This center will host the primary electrical and materials labs for ABB’s Electrification business in North America.’’
Creevy said the Bloomfield facility will include a complete low-voltage electrical lab, high current and endurance test capabilities, a materials characterization lab, environmental test stations, electronics and systems testing, among other elements.
A global Fortune 500 company with 2018 revenue of $27.7 billion, Zurich-based ABB — formerly ASEA Brown Boveri — has business interests mostly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology.
ABB says it has invested more than $14 billion in its U.S. interests since 2010, tripling its footprint here. It has more than 24,000 workers worldwide.
