Back to Main News PageBrown Precision, Inc. moving to Chase Park
By: Gina Hannah
Huntsville Times Business Writer
Next summer, Brown Precision, Inc. will move to a new home in Chase Industrial Park, equipped with machines that won't even fit in the company's current building off University Drive.
The move is part strategy, as Brown Precision, Inc. plans to grow its business making parts for aviation, military and other industries. It's also part necessity.
"We are busting out," said Dan Brown, company president. The current building on Putman Drive is 25,000 square feet. The 11.2-acre site on the city's northeast side will give Brown Precision, Inc. space to expand to 100,000 square feet.
Founded in 1964 as Semco Inc., the company was purchased by Roland Brown, a local accountant for whom SEMCO was a client, in 1976. Roland Brown is former chief financial officer of Intergraph Corp. and is now chairman of Brown Precision, Inc., while his two sons head business operations. Dan Brown oversees the mechanical operations, and Greg Brown is vice president of finance. "We've gone through some serious growing pains over the past 17 years," Greg Brown said. "We've had to learn to take our knocks."
During the past several years, the Browns have been adding machines to help position the company as a specialty manufacturer. Brown Precision, Inc. customers include PPG Industries, Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., United Defense, DRS, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, and Smith & Nephews. The $3.2 million expansion will give the company 36,000 square feet to start, and allow room for future expansion, the Browns said.
The company currently has 30 employees. The Browns said they expect to add another 10 employees during the next year.