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Governor Malloy announced on Wednesday that a newly formed company - Sustainable Building Systems, Inc. - will establish its global headquarters in Connecticut with financial help from the state. The startup is expected to employ more than 400 people within four years.
The joint venture between Arizona-based Diverse Services Group and The Weeks Group of Australia will be headquartered in North Haven.
Standing inside the cavernous 400,000 square foot building, Governor Dannel Malloy said Sustainable Building Systems, Inc is in the sweet spot of what Connecticut should be doing: precision manufacturing and job growth.
"In the last century, the steel industry was the backbone of our nation, providing jobs and helping to build the middle class. Companies like Sustainable Building Systems represents the next evolution within that industry. By embracing 21st century technology, what's old is becoming new again and green manufacturing jobs represent the future."
The company will receive state assistance through Governor Malloy’s First Five program. The 97 million dollar project will include a 10 year loan of 19.1 million dollars at 2% interest rolled out over four years. As the company meets job creation targets, Malloy says those loans can be forgiven.
The Weeks Group currently has design centers in Australia and India. CEO Kevin Weeks says he’s confident the US operation will be successful.
"There will be people working here, but not only will they be working on the factory process which will be trained by our company – our people will come here and train and go back to Australia – this is about American jobs, its not about Aussie jobs, and will also be the extension of what we see as the globalization of our company."
Sustainable Building Systems builds homes and manufactures steel framing products for residential and commercial construction.
The plan is to phase in production in about six months and to be fully operational in about a year.
