Sailmaker asks state to help it expand
SALEM - A Marblehead-based maker of yacht sails is hoping the state will help it launch a Witch City operation and aid the company's foray into the blimp market.
Doyle Sailmakers is moving into Salem Commerce Park at 96 Swampscott Road, the former Maynard Plastics site. It will join three other tenants who have moved there recently, including Jacqueline's Wholesale Bakery, Tobin & Sons movers and the Tri-City Sales warehouse, city Planning Director Lynn Duncan said.
"The enhancement of the industrial space will be positive from an economic development perspective," Duncan said.
The company is asking the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency to float a $2.15 million tax-exempt bond to finance its development, plans that include expanding into a new product line and into the airship market. A decision on the bond request is expected today.
Massachusetts Development Finance Agency works with companies looking to expand their facilities to create jobs.
According to its bond application, Doyle Sailmakers plans to use the money to buy a 31,000-square-foot building in Salem's industrial park that has been empty for three years, consolidating its two existing Marblehead locations there. The company says in its application that the project will create six new jobs and allow it to relocate 34 workers.
Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem, said the plan supports local efforts to increase the city's business base.
"Salem has been trying to attract more companies to the area," Keenan said.
One of the company's owners, Janet Doyle, refused to comment before any decision was made on the bond.
The new location in Salem would almost double the space Doyle has now, allowing the company to increase manufacturing capacities and create new jobs, said Benny Wong, vice president of investment banking at MassDevelopment.
"Doyle will be one of the last companies that would be moving into the building," Wong said. "They are leasing now, so essentially they want to own their own building."