AVTECH Closes Purchase And Sales AgreementTechnology Business Owns Cutler Mills Property, Overcomes Permit Holdup
Written By Abigail Crocker - Warren Times Gazette
WARREN - AVTECH President Michael Sigourney closed the purchase and sales agreement to buy Cutler Mills on Wednesday, Dec. 17, securing the Newport-based technology company's move to Warren. Mr. Sigourney said the first thing he will do to get the building ready for the move is demolish the windows and interior walls.
"We're happy to be moving forward and we're excited about the work ahead," Mr. Sigourney said.
Considering the state of the economy, he said the building sale was extremely timely and financing was relatively easy to obtain. It took 75 days from the date Mr. Sigourney made his initial offer to previous owner Dave Wescott to the date the ink dried on the sale documents.
"Given the nature of what we accomplished, I've never seen anything go so quickly," Mr. Sigourney said.
However Alan Crisman, director of the Mount Hope Enterprise Zone, feels the process could have been streamlined a lot more efficiently. According to Mr. Crisman, at no fault to AVTECH, Building Inspector Bill Nash refrained from signing necessary building documents banks required before approving loans in the final hours before the purchase and sales agreement went through.
"The building inspector did not feel comfortable issuing the required building permits," Mr. Crisman said.
Because of the lack of permits, Mr. Crisman said, Mr. Sigourney was forced to agree to additional stipulations banks imposed due to a lack of building permits. He hopes the process is easier for business owners to undergo.
"I think we could have found a flexible way of doing this," Mr. Crisman said.
Mr. Sigourney said the sale process did not surprise him because with a multi-million dollar move, there are always minor stumbling blocks.
"Parts of the entire process were unnecessary. It's fair to say I spent 30,000 in cash in the last two weeks paying for things that are unnecessary," Mr. Sigourney said. "When you have people loaning you several million dollars, it's necessary to them and it's something you have to do."
The most important thing, he said, was that he is moving his business successfully. The company is scheduled to move its operations to Cutler Mills in March.
WARREN - AVTECH President Michael Sigourney closed the purchase and sales agreement to buy Cutler Mills on Wednesday, Dec. 17, securing the Newport-based technology company's move to Warren. Mr. Sigourney said the first thing he will do to get the building ready for the move is demolish the windows and interior walls.
AVTECH Software, Inc.