ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603110029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
The entrance sign at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant said it all on Friday.
In small, slightly crooked black letters, the sign read, "Welcome Fireworks By Grucci Inc.," signaling the beginning of a 20-year contract between the New York fireworks company and the arsenal.
Starting this fall, Grucci will begin moving most of its manufacturing operation from a 90-acre facility in Brookhaven, N.Y., to a series of small buildings spread throughout 25 acres on the ammunition plant's property. Felix Grucci, president and CEO, said the process of moving the manufacturing work to Virginia will take about five years.
The relocation will allow the business to grow, Grucci said, because Radford is located near the Southern markets the company wants to reach and has lower operating costs than New York. Company officials had decided to expand in Virginia even before the ammunition plant contacted them last year.
"We know that being able to manufacture the devices here and service the accounts here, it will be much more effective than Long Island," said Grucci, who was in Radford on Friday for the formal contract signing.
The New York facility would remain as the company's headquarters and would be used as a regional distribution point. The military pyrotechnic products the company makes, many of which are used to simulate detonation devices to train troops, also would continue to be manufactured in New York.
Initially, Fireworks By Grucci will hire 20 to 50 people to work in manufacturing, administrative, distribution and maintenance jobs. Eventually, the number of employees could swell to 75 to 100, though Grucci said there are no final figures right now.
"I don't want to venture a guess," he said.
The ammunition plant will renovate the 24,000-square-foot area soon to be occupied by the fireworks company with $1.5 million in federal funds. The money has been earmarked to help military facilities like the arsenal bring in commercial tenants. The buildings, which were constructed during the 1940s, will need electrical and structural work.
Fireworks By Grucci will invest about $2.5 million in the relocation.
Friday's announcement was part of an ongoing effort by the ammunition plant to persuade outside businesses to move onto the largely unused arsenal property. It took about a year to cement the deal.
"It's a natural fit," said Chip Batton, a programs manager with Alliant Techsystems, Inc., the Minnesota-based commercial operator of the ammunition plant. "These guys are trained in the manufacture of similar products."
Fireworks By Grucci employs about 50 full-time and 400 part-time people. The part-time employees are needed to help stage fireworks displays throughout the country. On average, Fireworks By Grucci puts on 90 displays during the Fourth of July weekend.
The company has designed displays for numerous high profile events, including the last four presidential inaugurations and two Olympic games, and manufactures fireworks for daily shows at Disneyland and Disney World. This summer, Fireworks By Grucci will design the fireworks displays for the Republican National Convention and the Major League Baseball's All-star game.
Of the 3,200 fireworks products it uses in displays, the company manufactures about 40 percent of them.
Fireworks By Grucci is a 140-year-old family business, something clearly evident on Friday at the ammunition plant. Felix Grucci was surrounded by family members who also work for the company as he spent the day at the arsenal and joked that he is the boss by title only.
"I may be president and CEO but if my sister tells me I can't do something we have to sit down at the table," said Grucci, who also happens to be the township supervisor in Brookhaven, N.Y., the site of the company's headquarters.
A 1991 Washington Post article described the 90-acre facility in New York as "more like a military munitions plant than a family-owned fireworks warehouse."
Grucci said that facility was modeled after army ammunition plants for safety reasons; a 1983 explosion gutted the company's other manufacturing plant, killing his brother.
Locating its manufacturing operations at an actual military installation means the safeguards, such as explosion-proof fixtures and buildings that are separated by large distances, already are in place, Grucci said.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines KEYWORDS: JOBCHEKby CNB