WARWICK – After almost 12 years of operating in Warwick, Maverick Equipment Manufacturing Inc. is relocating to a 30,000-square-foot facility in Summerville, S.C., The Post and Courier reported Thursday.
The manufacturer of industrial-grade hammers already has 20 employees working at the South Carolina facility and plans to hire an additional 71 people over the next five years. The Post and Courier was told that the new staff will replace the employees who chose not to relocate with the company.
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According to South Carolina’s Department of Commerce, Maverick Equipment is investing $1.5 million in the capital for the relocation.
“We are excited about this new facility and look forward to starting operations at our new manufacturing facility,” said Sean Raimbeault, president of Maverick Equipment Manufacturing, in a press release from the S.C. Department of Commerce. “South Carolina and Dorchester County have provided unparalleled assistance and resources, which ultimately influenced our decision to move here.”
A company spokeswoman told Providence Business News that the decision to relocate had come about in the second quarter of 2009. The company, which has more than 2,300 clients in 39 countries, believes that the new location will better serve its current needs and future growth in exporting, as the nearby Port of Charleston is one of the largest and busiest ports in the Southeast.
The Post and Courier reported that the company will be receiving tax abatement, reducing its tax bill for the next five years. The discount is a perk offered by South Carolina to companies that bring or buy $50,000 of equipment into the state.
Company officials were unavailable to comment on the relocation’s impact on Rhode Island.
Maverick Equipment manufactures large hydraulic hammers designed to be attached to various mining and construction machinery, with each hammer weighing thousands of pounds. The company operates sales offices in Miami, Mexico, Italy and Saudi Arabia and sells between 500 and 1,000 hammers annually.
Here we go again. Is EDC or the Governor’s Office doing anything to keep businesses in Rhode Island? Obviously the General Assembly has no concerns. And where are you, Frank Caprio? There have been several articles about companies leaving the state over the past few weeks. Curt Schilling’s company may be the only one left in a couple of years. Maverick Equipment needed port facilities. The governor has always stood in the way of port development at Quonset. NIMBYism trumps economic development and common sense. Every time one of these manufacturers leaves, the ones who did business with them also suffer, causing additional job losses. It’s frustrating to watch the decline of our state.