Local wire maker growing, set to move to Griffiss Park

Copper wire maker KrisTech Wire Co. is moving but staying local.

The company has settled on a parcel in Griffiss Business & Technology Park for its new manufacturing facility. It is currently located at 921 Seneca St., across the parking lot from Revere Copper, where it has been since its founding in 1984.

“We are too big for our britches,” said Graham Brodock, president and an owner. “We are bursting at the seams.”

Brodock says he’s looking forward to moving into a building of approximately 50,000 square feet by the end of the year that was specifically designed with his company’s manufacturing needs in mind. He said expected improvements in efficiency and productivity will help keep KrisTech competitive within its industry.

He said the new facility will enhance KrisTech’s capability “to do what we do well, which is make wire.”

All manufacturing is done in Rome although it does have a warehouse and distribution operation in California, said Brodock. The company, with fewer than 50 employees, makes a range of copper wire products for several industries, including cathodic protection, building wire, directional drilling, solar energy, various utilities and the explosives industry.

Brodock says he hopes the move leads to increased employment.

Working with Syracuse-based VIP Structures, KrisTech has settled on a vacant parcel at Otis Street and Brooks Road. The site is near UTC Aerospace Systems and the main entrance to the Air Force Research Laboratory.

It is purchasing the land, about eight acres, for $25,000 an acre from Griffiss Local Development Corp. The GLDC board approved the sale Thursday.

“We’re confident that everything is coming together,” said Vincent Raymond of VIP. He said his firm was selected last year after KrisTech reviewed proposals from several companies.

VIP is no stranger to Griffiss. It has previously done work in the business park for Birnie Bus Service, said Raymond. Additionally, it is the lead company on the multi-year expansion and upgrades at Vernon Downs that will wrap up this year with the completion of a parking garage.

Raymond and Brodock both said the Griffiss location was the best of several local ones that were considered. The company was aided in its search by the city and Mohawk Valley EDGE.

“It was,” said Brodock when asked if keeping the company in the city was a consideration in the site-selection process. He notes that KrisTech has ties to Rome’s manufacturing legacy. The company was founded by twins Glenn and Gerry Brodock. Glenn Brodock retired from Rome Cable while Gerry Brodock led industrial relations at Revere Copper & Brass, according to the KrisTech website.