Visit to MTEQ
23 June 2008
Manufacturing Techniques (MTEQ) is a true technology firm now located at its new facility in Kilmarnock’s Technology Park.
Greg Williams, MTEQ’s Chief Financial Officer, acted as a guide to members of the Northern Neck-Chesapeake Bay Region Partnership during the visit. Williams walked the group through the various manufacturing processes performed at the plant, including three core activities of the company: circuit board assembly, specialty-cable assembly, and custom hardware “pizza box” assembly. The fourth, and growing, category is engineering services.
Until 2006, the company operated out of a rented facility in Northumberland County. MTEQ was rapidly expanding at the time, increasing its volume of defense-contract work, so there was a need to own its plant in order to have more flexibility. One option was to purchase the rented facility in Reedville, and adapt it. But after some research, the owners realized that it made more economic sense to build exactly what they needed, including a plant with ESD flooring (static-control floors), which is essential for the type of electronics manufacturing they do.
MTEQ was looking for property that was already zoned commercial—a parcel that would allow a complete move within an 18-month window. Many of their 12 employees at the time lived in Lancaster County, Williams said, so when he found out about Kilmarnock’s Technology Park through the town’s manager, it seemed like a perfect match—a technology company in the technology park.
The Town of Kilmarnock also referred Williams to the Northern Neck Planning District Commission, and to the Enterprise Zone program administered by the Commission.
State of Virginia Enterprise Zone incentives include job-creation and real-property-investment grants, up to $125,000 for investments of less than two million. There are more than 10,500 acres throughout the Northern Neck that have been designated Enterprise Zones, and Kilmarnock’s Technology Park falls within them. In addition to state incentives, each Northern Neck county provides its own to existing or arriving businesses.
After reviewing the Enterprise Zone Program’s guidelines, MTEQ’s decision was easy. The company ended up investing $1.5 million ($500,000 in equipment and a million on the property and construction of the plant and office space).
With continued growth, however, the 12,000 square-foot facility is already starting to feel small. Fortunately, management planned ahead. MTEQ owns the adjacent lot, on which it will build an expansion for its now 38 employees (33 of whom work in production, plus four summer interns this year).
The next step, Williams said, is to continue to increase MTEQ’s engineering services, for which the company now has employees working on-site at Dahlgren and Ft. Belvoir. NN
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About the Program: Studies have shown that three out of four new jobs are usually created by existing local businesses. For that reason, the Northern Neck Business Visitation Program was launched in 2006 to assist established local firms with their growth efforts, expansion plans, workforce-training needs, and general day-to-day operations.
