Sheridan, Wyoming-based metal-fabrication company EMIT Technologies has selected Greeley for its next phase of expansion with the opening of a new 46,600 square-feet facility in southeast Greeley at 2985 First Ave., the former home of BMA America.
Sheridan, Wyoming-based metal-fabrication company EMIT Technologies has selected Greeley for its next phase of expansion with the opening of a new 46,600 square-feet facility in southeast Greeley at 2985 First Ave., the former home of BMA America. Michelle Butler, COO of EMIT, said the company bought Great Denver Iron in August and quickly determined the existing facility was not large enough. EMIT decided to move the operation out of Commerce City to Greeley. According to Butler, about 15 employees moved with the operation, some of whom already live in Greeley. “Now we can scale, and we expect to hire 15 to 25 more people,” she told the Greeley Tribune. EMIT plans to employ roughly 40 people locally and is already seeking to hire several positions for welders.
According to Casey D. Osborn, EMIT CEO, the company formed 20 years ago to design and build emission controls. He describes EMIT as a fast-growing metal manufacturing company that has developed world-class fabrication capabilities by continuously reinvesting in new tools and technologies. “We're constantly trying to stretch our definition of what’s possible and have created a 100,000 square-feet smart factory in Sheridan,” Osborn said.
Greeley’s operation will be focused on contract manufacturing. Among its current work is the production of structural steel for a new high school under construction in Eaton. The Greeley plant will “leverage a skilled workforce of engineering and manufacturing talent,” Osborn said. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the generous hospitality of the Greeley community. It’s representative of the type of place we want to plant roots and contribute to the greater Weld County community. We’ve had a great response thus far in our recruiting efforts and look forward to a long and prosperous operation in Greeley.”
EMIT is building on Greeley’s history of heavy engineering that dates back almost a century when Brewer Steel was founded in 1926. A German-based engineering firm called BMA America purchased Brewer Steel in 1994 to focus on manufacturing equipment and engineering solutions for the sugar industry. When sugar declined in Colorado 20 years later, BMA America realigned its operations and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2019.
In early 2021, the City of Greeley’s metal manufacturing and fabrication workers numbered around 500 with an average annual industry wage of $61,000.