Middleton, Mass., August 27, 2019—After three years of planning and a move that took place over three months, Salem Metal, Inc.’s new 75,000 square-foot facility is completely operational. The state-of-the-art facility houses 70 employees alongside machines providing a broad range of metal services, including machining, laser cutting, punching, press brake forming, engineering and inspection, welding, finishing, hardware insertion, and painting.
“It was a long road from the day we saw the plans for this industrial park until the day the move was complete,” says Jason Vining, president. “But the moment I realized we could stay in Middleton and have the type of facility we needed to continue growing the business, I knew it was the right decision.”
Vining’s father, James, started the business in 1970 in a 3,500 square-foot building in Salem, Mass. Following a fire in 1986, he moved the business to a 30,000 square-foot facility in Middleton. Jason worked on the production floor during high school, spent summers learning the business during college, and became vice president in 1998. Today, although James has stepped back from day-to-day operations, he remains executive vice president and is a part of the tight ecosystem that ensures orders go out on time with the quality customers expect. He was also part of the strategic and financial planning for the new building, which involved a tax-exempt bond from MassDevelopment.
Plenty of room to grow.
The new facility features high ceilings and a spacious production floor, giving workers the room they need to be highly efficient. It’s fully air conditioned and well-lit, and the large cafeteria’s natural light and comfortable furniture encourage employees—many of whom have been with the company for 15 or more years—to relax and converse during breaks.
“We’d like to double our sales between now and 2025, and to do that we need to retain our existing team and bring on additional staff, says Vining. “It’s not a field young people are naturally attracted to, so giving them a great place to work and encouraging a healthy, positive culture is extremely important.” Vining says in addition to hiring machining specialists, he plans to add salespeople, account managers, and possibly a director of operations. Another growth-related goal is achieving ISO 9001:2015 certification, which is expected by the end of Q1 next year.
“With this facility, we can better serve our current customers while expanding the business, which will hit the 50-year mark in January. We’ll continue to invest in employees and in new equipment, including robotic technology, and we’ll become an even more major player in the industry,” explains Vining.
About Salem Metal, Inc.
For more than 49 years, Salem Metal has had an outstanding reputation as a family-run, full-service job shop serving all industries. It specializes in panels, brackets, enclosures, and sub-assemblies, and its modern facility is equipped to handle everything from precision sheet-metal fabrication and sophisticated CNC machining to spray painting—with all the expert design and engineering assistance its customers need. Learn more at http://www.salemmetal.com
