Tasca Ford is enroute to be the first auto dealer in Connecticut and among a small number in the region with a Ford Pro Elite Commercial Service Facility, set to open in mid 2023.
Company representatives on Tuesday joined town officials from Berlin for a groundbreaking ceremony for the 32,600-square-foot facility that Tasca is building at 250 Webster Square Road.
The sales and service center, next to the existing Tasca dealership, will service the growing fleet of large trucks used by drivers, municipalities and commercial operations.
Tasca Ford President Robert Tasca III said many Ford dealerships face limitations when it comes to servicing large trucks since they have facilities that were built more than 40 years ago for smaller cars.
Ford Motor Company has very few small models “and now you have big trucks. You have municipalities and fleets that have gotten bigger and then you have electrification, which really changed the game in a lot of different aspects,” Tasca said.
The new facility will be dedicated to the heavy-duty truck customer, the commercial industry and municipalities.
“Whether you are an owner of one unit or a fleet of 50, keeping you on the road is important to us,” Tasca said of his large-truck and commercial customers.
Tasca bought and razed a dilapidated manufacturing building next to the existing dealership to create space for the new facility, which he called “a multimillion-dollar investment” that was praised by local leaders.
“The Tasca family has been part of Berlin not just in the automotive and commercial truck business but in the community-impact business as well,” Mayor Mark Kaczynski said. “This expansion demonstrates their continued commitment to Berlin.”
He and Tasca were joined by Town Manager Arosha Jayawickrema and Economic Development Director Chris Edge.
Ford Pro will establish 120 Elite Commercial Service facilities nationally along with 1,200
mobile service units.
Tasca expects to draw customers from a 50-mile radius, and they will have access to trained technicians, extended hours, mobile service, and state-of-the-art equipment, he said.
The new facility will generate up to 30 new high-paying, highly skilled technician jobs, which are also in high demand, Tasca said. The current sales and service center has neary 70 employees.
In addition, this Ford Pro facility will also be a Ford Model E dealer for electric vehicles, service and charging infrastructure.
Steel structures are scheduled to go up mid-January, and the facility should be operational by this summer, Tasca said.
The dealership is the site of the former Morande Ford, which was a fixture in Berlin for decades before it was acquired by Tasca.
