As New Englanders celebrate the holiday season, we are also celebrating the continued growth and economic development that we are seeing at Quonset Business Park. The Business Park is increasingly seen as a key driver of job creation and economic growth in Rhode Island. It is now home to more than 175 companies, with 9,500 full-time and part-time jobs. Its Port of Davisville is one of the top ten auto-importers in North America. And since 2005, more than 3,500 jobs have been created within the park.
Over the past few months our growth has been evident through several major announcements from our tenants within the Park. Supfina Machine Co., Inc., recently broke ground on a 21,000 s/f expansion to their Quonset facility. The expansion will give the company, one of the leading machine-tool manufacturers in the state, the potential to boost its workforce from approximately 45 to 70 individuals over the next few years. When complete, the company's facility will be 50,000 s/f.
"Supfina has demonstrated its commitment to the North American market by taking this opportunity to expand the North Kingstown facility," said Andrew Corsini, president and CEO of Supfina Machine Co., Inc. "Stability is important to Supfina, so the company has always had a long-term outlook for the business. This new addition proves that we're here to stay."
As part of its commitment to Rhode Island, Supfina also plans to take a more active role in fostering local students' interest in career opportunities in manufacturing. This commitment includes supporting local robotics clubs as well as encouraging students to learn more than one language. Supfina also offers paid internships to both college and doctoral students, and Corsini expects that the building addition will allow the company to expand those opportunities.

Another Quonset tenant, R&D Technologies, Inc., Rhode Island's only retailer of 3-D printers, announced this fall that it had relocated to the Gateway Offices at the Quonset Business Park. The Gateway Offices are a new initiative launched by the Quonset Development Corporation (QDC) to provide modern, state-of-the-art office space for start-up businesses or other small businesses. The move enables the R&D to expand its office size as well as accommodate its growing employee base.

"The expansion of our business is a direct result of the growing popularity of three-dimensional printing and rapid prototyping as a trusted resource for manufacturing and product development," said Andrew Coutu, founder and president of R&D Technologies, Inc. "As a Rhode Island-based business, R&D is proud to act as one of the state's premier 'manufacturing hubs.' Not only have we expanded into a larger office location at the new Gateway Offices, but we're also planning to hire more support and sales staff in the coming months."
In November we also welcomed back Governor Lincoln Chafee to Quonset Business Park to celebrate the completion of New England's most powerful solar rooftop array. The size of three and a half football fields, the array encompasses more than 8,500 solar panels and will produce close to 3 million kilowatt-hours of power per year. Developed and built by Nexamp, Inc, a solar independent power producer, the project has the capability to power more than 500 homes in a year, and throughout its lifespan, will produce enough clean energy to offset over 60,000 tons of greenhouse gases..
"This is a great day for Quonset, for the environment, and for Rhode Island - and I am thrilled to be here to officially help 'flip the switch' on this worthwhile effort," Governor Chafee said at the event. "Perhaps most importantly - this project shows how our legislature and Rhode Island can work to support domestic renewable energies, reduce environmental impacts, diversify state energy sources, and stimulate economic activity all at once."
These are just a few of the great growth stories coming out of Quonset as 2013 comes to a close. With more than 175 companies and 9,500 people working at the Park, we have many more to tell. We invite you to come be a part of this growth and learn how we can help your company succeed. To learn more about Quonset Business Park and the companies succeeding here, visit www.quonset.com.
Steven King, PE, is the managing director of the Quonset Development Corp., North Kingstown.