AMESBURY — By the end of the week, all Munters employees will officially be showing up for work in the company’s new headquarters overlooking Interstate 495, according to officials.
“I would say about 80 percent of our office staff are now in the building,” project manager Alison McDougall said, Wednesday.
Munters is part of Swedish-based Munters Group, which specializes in the development and production of precision temperature and humidity control products and solutions for numerous industrial applications, including lithium-ion battery production and food processing, according to its website.
In November, 2022, the company announced it was expanding operations in the city and signed a letter of intent with Global Property Developers Corp. to locate its flagship building at 24 South Hunt Road, the site of Maples Crossing.
Maples Crossing, being developed as the area’s largest sports, business and entertainment destination, expanded its campus from 50 to 75 acres – allowing it to accommodate the proposed 400,000-square-foot facility.
“We legally and officially took possession on Jan. 1, but because that was a holiday, we actually started to move on the second,” McDougall said.
In terms of having main factory operations set up, she said they are around 80-to-90 percent done with the first of three phases, describing it as the biggest phase in terms of the manufacturing of industrial air treatment equipment.
“That includes the fabrication aspect where we bend the sheet metal, we punch the sheet metal, and then the paint booth, prepping the plenums, the welding bays, and then all the assembly areas,” McDougall said.
McDougall said phase two will be setting up a research and development team and a service training academy.
“We have about six labs now that are going to just create so much space for that team. It’s really big, probably about 50,000-square-feet. And then our service training academy is moving actually up from Virginia,” McDougall said.
City Councilor Anthony Rinaldi said he was “very excited” to tour the new building in the near future.
“It’s great for the community. It’s great for the people who work there that they don’t have to go up to New Hampshire.
Asked about Munters’ former headquarters at 79 Monroe St., McDougall said the plan is to sell it.
“We’ll probably start marketing it sometime this year,” McDougall said.
The move across the city to a bigger space will allow Munters to hire roughly 70 more workers, from 345 to 415. Of those now employed there, about one-third live in Amesbury, according to company officials.
“We’re thrilled to be staying. We worked hard to stay, and so we’re really happy to be here and reception from the community has been really good,” Munters Regional Marketing Manager Americas Chip Bresette said.
Marketing specialist Samuel Bergeron, who began working at the new building Monday, said it has been “nostalgic” as he remembers when he used to go tubing at the sports park when he was younger.
“Now working there, it’s good to know and it makes me happy that it’s not only a place that’s going to contribute to the community by providing good jobs, but also that it’s doing it in a sustainable way,” Bergeron said.
The company is preparing for a May 22 grand opening.
“We’re excited to support their continued success here in Amesbury and we can’t wait,” Gove said, referring to the grand opening.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.