MIDDLEBURY — A Wallingford-based electronics company plans to uproot its world headquarters and move to Middlebury as early as November.
Winchester Electronics, which designs and manufactures power connectors and cable and electromechanical assemblies, plans to relocate its headquarters to the old Timex building on Park Road Extension. The company will lease nearly 20,000 square feet in the building from Midex LLC, a New York-based company that owns the building.
Gerry Matthews, co-chairman of the Economic and Industrial Development Commission and a partner with Matthews Commercial Properties, said the company also applied to use the commission's tax incentive program. The commission approved the company's application; Matthews, who brokered the real estate transaction, did not vote on the application.
While the exact cost of the lease was not released, the real estate company had listed the space at $5 per square foot, which prices the lease around $100,000 per month.
Winchester will likely become the first company to qualify for the tax incentive program, with the Board of Selectmen scheduled to vote on the company's application on Monday.
Companies investing $3 million or more in capital improvements to their businesses in town can receive the maximum benefit at five years, while companies spending $100,000 to $499,999 would receive the least benefit, at three years. Every company investing $3 million or more would receive a 35 percent tax abatement in the first year under the program, 30 percent in the second, 25 percent in the third, 20 percent in the fourth and 15 percent in the fifth year.
The exact investment figures weren't available late Wednesday.
"It's very exciting," First Selectman Edward B. St. John said of the deal on Wednesday. Hopefully we've turned the corner in town from an economic development standpoint. It's another leap forward in filling the vast Timex facility with businesses that can only bring more businesses."
St. John said he expects the board will approve the tax plan, but the measure will still require a town meeting vote for full approval.
The company, which was established in 1941, also has facilities in South Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois, Mexico, China and Malaysia.
Winchester is owned by Audax Group of Boston, an investing company, with more than $5 billion in capital.
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