CTDI to build new, big facility in Coatesville

VALLEY >> A West Chester area company plans to build a 520,000-square-foot testing and warehouse facility in Western Chester County that will initially employ 300 and could be expanded to accommodate 600 workers.

The plans of Communications Test Design Inc., or CTDI, to build in the Highlands Corporate Center were announced Monday after a recent tour of county business sites by Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Davin, state Sen. Andy Dinniman, and other politicians and business leaders.

CTDI, based in East Goshen, is a full-service, global engineering, repair and logistics company providing solutions to the communications industry. Services include network infrastructure repair and logistics; engineering and network deployment solutions; product engineering; and sourcing and supply services.

It works with set-top boxes, modems and data as well as automotive products.

The company, celebrating its 40th year in business, was started and is still run by the Parsons family of West Chester.

“In my judgment we are far better off investing in companies that are already here, especially family-owned companies, than we are in trying to attract companies from outside the area,” Dinniman said Tuesday.

Dinniman and Davin visited the CTDI headquarters on Enterprise Drive in East Goshen to meet with Chairman and CEO Jerry Parsons, President and COO Leo Parsons, and senior officials about the company’s plans to build the massive, state-of-the-art customer service center in the Coatesville area.

Dinniman said the proposal has taken on new importance to the area since the recent announcements of layoffs at Sikorsky Aircraft in Sadsbury and the intended closure of SABIC in Caln.

“This will provide job opportunities to people in the greater Coatesville area,” Dinniman said, noting that many of the jobs won’t require advanced degrees.

Valley Township Manager Robert Glisson said CTDI presented the planning commission with an update to plans that originally had been submitted in 2009. That plan called for two buildings while the revised plans call for the construction of the one testing and distribution facility with parking on 43 acres. Valley supervisors had granted preliminary approval of the original plan, Glisson said.

With the new plan, CTDI estimated it would start with 300 employees, 50 percent of whom would be technicians and testing experts, 40 percent logistics and warehouse workers, and 10 percent managerial.

The building will be designed so it eventually will be able to accommodate 600 employees, Glisson said.

“As a new manager, I’m certain this is what the corporate center is designed to do. It’s convenient to the (Route 30) bypass and to the Chester County Airport as well,” Glisson said

Dinniman said he and Davin discussed ways the commonwealth could support the project in order to encourage CTDI to continue to look at Pennsylvania to meet the demands of its business and job growth. No guarantees for grants or low-interest loans were made, said Dinniman.

Dinniman also commended CTDI for its strong culture of giving back to the community through support of organizations like the United Way and the Lord’s Pantry, as well as local Catholic schools like Bishop Shanahan.

“CTDI is proud of our heritage as a Pennsylvania-based family-owned global business with a 40-year history of growth and job creation within the state. We are encouraged by the commonwealth’s commitment to support our project, which will enable CTDI to expand our business and increase jobs in Chester County,” Jerry Parsons said.

“CTDI is excited about the opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art, world-class, technical service operation in Valley Township. This new facility will enable CTDI to compete and win in today’s competitive global marketplace,” Leo Parsons said.

When the project is complete, there will room for only one more major tenant in Highlands Corporate Center, said Ken Hobson, regional manager of High Associates Ltd. of Lancaster, developer of the park.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Hobson said. “It will increase the traffic and the visibility here.”

Source: Daily Local