Two prominent industrial firms are poised to relocate their operations from Boston and Westwood to Norwood, bringing a combined workforce of 163 employees and the prospect of 74 new jobs, contingent upon the final approval of industrial revenue bonds.
The Industrial Development Financing Authority voted unanimously to recommend nearly $3.3 million in tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds for the two expansion projects, forwarding the recommendation to the Board of Selectmen for final endorsement. Notably, the issuance of these tax-exempt bonds involves no financial liability or pledge of the town’s credit.
The larger of the two proposals involves Grant Gear Works, a historic manufacturing firm founded in 1877 by George Grant (“the pioneer gear man”) and owned by the Hurley family since 1918. Represented by company treasurer John F. Hurley, vice president Robert J. Hurley, and real estate agent Rodger Nordblom of the Nordblom Co., the firm applied for an $1,830,000 bond. The financing will enable Grant Gear to purchase the former Bendix plant off Route 18 and Dean Street—a sprawling 96,500-square-foot facility situated on 9.5 acres of a 26-acre industrial site. The new location, which includes 15,000 square feet of office space and extensive manufacturing floor space, will triple the size of the company’s current cramped South Boston plant. Grant Gear currently employs 105 workers manufacturing custom gears and speed reducers for automated conveyor systems and anticipates adding 45 new jobs as operations scale up.
The second bond application, totaling $1,450,000, was submitted by the Nordblom Co. to finance the construction of a custom facility for Computer Identics Corp., which plans to relocate from its current home in the Westwood-128 Industrial Park on University Avenue. The proposed two-level, 32,000-square-foot masonry building—incorporating office and assembly areas along with parking for 128 vehicles—will be erected on Canton Street between University Avenue and Oceana Way on land owned by The Glacier Co. Highlighting innovative sustainable design, Rodger Nordblom explained that the new facility will feature an advanced “heat sink” energy conservation system utilizing ground storage of solar energy for climate control. Computer Identics, which specializes in designing and implementing computerized product identification and barcoding systems (such as those used in supermarkets), currently employs 58 people and expects to generate 29 new jobs following its transition to the larger Norwood facility.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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