CRANSTON – Taco Inc. broke ground Thursday for an expansion to its manufacturing and corporate facility on Cranston Street. Late last year the HVAC equipment manufacturer purchased a one-acre lot from Edward Imperatore of Imperatore Crane Service, which is situated adjacent to the Taco plant and directly on Cranston Street.
This is the first physical expansion of the Cranston facility since Taco first acquired it in 1954.
The groundbreaking event, complete with an excavator, took place Thursday morning at a ceremony attended by Taco President John Hazen White Jr., Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey and members of the Cranston City Council.
Taco’s expansion plans call for the construction of a 63,000-square-foot addition to the existing plant, which will serve as a warehouse for shipping and distribution of Taco products. In doing so, Taco will shift its inventory and some 20 employees from its present warehouse and distribution center on Wellington Avenue, also in Cranston, to the Cranston Street facility, bringing all Cranston Taco employees under one roof for the first time.
Taco has been leasing the Wellington Avenue facility since 1979.
“Bringing our warehouse and distribution functions inside our main facility makes excellent sense in terms of efficiency and cost savings,” said White.
