WARREN - AVTECH, a multi-million dollar computer technology company based out of Newport, has signed a purchase and sales agreement to buy the Cutler Mills property on Child Street and plans to move its entire operation, and about 25 employees, to downtown Warren.
If the sale goes through, AVTECH will move to Warren in March. It's a marked change in plans for the high-tech firm, which for months had been seeking to purchase and renovate the Sheffield School in Newport but gave up as city approvals and other regulatory hurdles took longer than expected.
AVTECH founder and president Michael Sigourney said Wednesday that Cutler Mills is a better option than the school because it has enough growing room for his 25 full-time employees and others he expects to hire in the coming years. In the past year, the firm has seen a 200 percent increase in profits, and the average employees yearly compensation is about $50,000.
Mr. Sigourney said he plans to allow all the mill's tenants to stay, and he'll grow around them. That includes Fab Goldberg's Basically British Tea Room, of which he and his wife are regular customers. In fact, he said, Ms. Goldberg's campaigning for the property was one of the reasons he decided to seriously look into buying the mill, which owner David Wescott put on the market several months ago. As for future construction, plans are to renovate while also adding a separate meeting room. It would serve as a showroom for the technology products and a meeting room that would be available for public use.
"If the chamber of commerce or a non-profit wants to use it, then they can," said Mr. Sigourney, adding that all renovations will respect the mill's character and historical value.
"We want to make it a beautiful place that people can't stop talking about."
There are still regulatory hurdles to clear before the sale is consummated, but Mr. Sigourney said he's optimistic.
"The project is a big thing and there are some things to work out, but we'll get through them."
Founded in 1988, AVTECH is one of the largest worldwide manufacturers of environmental monitoring equipment specifically designed for advanced computer rooms and data centers. Its products are used to monitor environmental conditions in many of the world's most secure data centers and are installed in almost every branch of the US government, according to company literature.
WARREN - AVTECH, a multi-million dollar computer technology company based out of Newport, has signed a purchase and sales agreement to buy the Cutler Mills property on Child Street and plans to move its entire operation, and about 25 employees, to downtown Warren.
888.220.6700
Sales@AVTECH.com
AVTECH Software, Inc.