Numia Medical Technology of Lyndonville plans to buy the vacant Vermont Teddy Bear factory and move to Newport City, real estate agent Jim Campbell confirmed.
The company secured a $412,00 loan from the Vermont Economic Development Authority to help buy the plant on Newport City’s waterfront. The company expects to add to its work force, moving everyone to Newport City from its current site in the Lyndonville Industrial Park.
And Numia, which manufactures medical equipment, has asked state regulators what permits would be needed to improve the plant.
Numia Medical Technology will close on the purchase of the former Vermont Teddy Bear factory next week, said Campbell of Jim Campbell Real Estate of Newport City. Campbell and Numia representatives intend to make a formal announcement once the closing is complete, he said.
Numia Medical Technology President Eric Flachbart has already purchased a home in the Newport area and wanted to expand the company in Newport City, Campbell said.
He called it “a win-win” situation for the company and for Newport City.
A spokeswoman has said that the company had no comment on the move and would not until there was something official to announce.
The Vermont Teddy Bear factory, with 25,000 square feet of space, closed nearly a decade ago when the company consolidated into its Chittenden County plant.
Numia Medical Technology is a fast-growing company founded in 2005 to design, develop and manufacture state-of-the-art medical drug infusion devices, according to VEDA’s website. VEDA had already approved $100,000 in technology financing to Numia last year to help the company purchase new equipment and software used in the manufacture of their products, according to VEDA.
VEDA provided the $412,000 loan this summer to help Numia buy the Newport plant, said Jo Bradley, VEDA chief executive officer.
The loan was made in conjunction with Passumpsic Savings Bank, she said.
Numia has 22 employees now and has plans to add eight more within three years, she said.
Companies must propose to create jobs in order to secure VEDA loans, she said.
“It’s a really great company that has a lot of potential for your area,” Bradley said. “We were very excited to help this company.”
The loan would be paid back over 10 years, she said.
The plant is zoned for exactly this kind of use, Newport City Zoning Administrator Paul Dreher said this week.
Numia Medical would not need an Act 250 permit amendment to work out of the plant, according to Kirsten Sultan, District 7 Environmental Commission coordinator.
The plant already has a permit and Numia’s plans do not present a material change, she said in a project review document provided Thursday.
In information filed with Sultan, Numia’s consultants said that they intend to do interior renovations to one of the two buildings on the four-acre site next to Lake Memphremagog, including an entrance for shipping and receiving and some foundation repairs.
The second building on the site would be rented to another company, the consultants said.
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