ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Maxi-Blast Inc. broke ground on a 40,000 sq.-ft. facility in St. Petersburg, which is expected to be ready by November.
The firm currently operates out of two buildings in St. Petersburg that total 30,000 square feet. The $5 million project will consolidate its Florida operations into one building by January 2015.
Robert Donaldson, vice president of manufacturing/Florida operations for Maxi-Blast, said the firm has been trying to locate a site for three to four years with construction management firm R.R. Simmons, almost having to search outside of St. Petersburg.
However, the executive said it was important to the firm and its employees that it remained in St. Petersburg since it has had a manufacturing presence there since 1978. The new property is on three acres that the city re-zoned from retail to manufacturing. R.R. Simmons is working on a plan to keep the building aesthetically pleasing to fit in with the neighborhood.
The new facility will have new Davis-Standard extruders as well as a ConAir material handling supply system, Donaldson said. It will have a unique underground conveying system to dry and feed its raw materials, and it will feature a demonstration area for its machinery.
Maxi-Blast is headquartered in a 45,000 sq.-ft. building in South Bend, Ind., and operates a 65,000 sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Cincinnati.
The company provides blast media for plastic molding and extrusion, rubber molding, paint and powder coating removal, surface preparation, electronics deflashing and any areas needing non-abrasive media.