Area company to expand, add jobs
LIONVILLE » Chester County manufacturer USSC Group has announced plans to expand its operations in the county and add more than 240 jobs. The company manufactures custom seating and fire suppression products for the transit, military and first responder markets.
USSC Group currently occupies a 136,000 square foot facility at 150 Gordon Drive in Lionville. By the end of June, the company will move to a facility that totals 300,000-square feet — nearly tripling the company’s operations in Chester County.
The move represents phase one of an expansion in response to business growth. Plans are underway to add an additional 175,000 square feet of manufacturing space in phase two, which is expected to begin in 2019, according to Joseph Mirabile, USSC Group president and CEO.
The company is investing at least $13.2 million into the project and has committed to the creation of at least 243 new jobs while retaining another 133 jobs over the next three years.
Mirabile cites an increase in the company’s core business of transit, motorcoach, train and first responder seating, as well as growth in the company’s acquisition of technology for two markets as reasons for the expansion.
On Tuesday, the company announced that it is purchasing Bose Ride technology from Boston, Mass. based ClearMotion, an automotive technology company that specializes in digital chassis control.
Bose Ride is an active suspension seat that cancels road disturbances and reduces whole body vibration and fatigue for drivers by up to 94 percent, according to Mirabile.
“This creates a much safer environment and eliminates 94 percent of the noise in the driver’s seat. It makes you feel like you’re sitting still. The technology uses the same technology as noise cancelling headphones,” he said.
“We had to absolutely explore all of our options. It’s tough to find space of this size in Chester County. We absolutely were looking in state and out of state.”
– Joseph Mirabile, USSC Group president and CEO
The agreement provides licensing rights to USSC Group for ClearMotion’s algorithms and mechatronics for the transit bus, train, motor coach and first responder markets. As part of the partnership, USSC will also manufacture seat systems for ClearMotion, according to a press release.
“This technology will help us improve the health and safety of our customers in ways that were not previously possible,” Mirabile said in the release.
In addition, Mirabile cited recent expansion in the company’s bus fire suppression market.
USSC Group will be moving across the street from the current location, according to Mirabile, to 101 Gordon Drive, adding that the build-out of the location has been underway for a while.
USSC’s expansion is being aided by an economic development package that was offered to the company by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team. That group of economic development professionals reports directly to the governor and works with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania. In this case, the team worked in collaboration with the Chester County Economic Development Council.
The package offered to USSC Group includes a $350,000 Pennsylvania First grant, a $109,350 WEDnet grant for employee training and $486,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits to be issued after the new jobs are created. The company has also been encouraged to apply for a $2 million low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority
to assist with building and equipment costs.
Mirabile said the company was looking at several different locations — including outside the state.
“We had to absolutely explore all of our options. It’s tough to find space of this size in Chester County. We absolutely were looking in state and out of state,” he said.
Mirabile said USSC Group has had a good relationship with the Chester County Economic Development Council and reached out to see how the organization could help.
According to MaryFrances McGarrity, senior vice president business development services for the Chester County Economic Development Council, USSC Group has been a long-time partner with the council, participating in workforce development initiatives.
“When they were investigating their opportunities to grow, they called us to say, ‘what do we need to do
to get incentives, reach out to people in the state and say we’d like to stay here.’ They were being courted by others,” she said.
McGarrity added there was about a six-week window for the Governor’s Action Team to talk with USSC Group, take the information to Harrisburg and then get a decision.
She said that having USSC Group stay in the area is a great thing.
“This is advanced manufacturing — this isn’t your grandfather’s manufacturing,” she said. “This company is the manufacturer of 50 percent of the seating products for transit, military and first responders. They are using new technologies in defense and military seats. We want to be encouraging companies like this to stay in our county.”
Mirabile said he was pleasantly surprised, “with how quickly the Governor’s Action Team moved to keep us in Pennsylvania and help support us.”
Mirabile said the company will be looking for new employees across a variety of USSC Group’s business operations.
“Our founder (Christian Hammarskjold) had a vision when he started the business here in the 80s. We built our business with tremendous people,” he added. “We’re a customer driven business — that is what has differentiates us. We’re looking for good people as we continue to grow,”
USSC Group is comprised of United States Seating Company, Fogmaker North America, Valor Seating and Global Seating Systems.