Cianbro Corp. has expanded its footprint in Pittsfield, with plans to renovate the former United Technologies Corp. Tech Center building that closed earlier this year to use as an employee training center.
Andi Vigue, Cianbro’s president, said Monday the company’s demand for training space has risen because of the company getting more work and to workers retiring.
“There’s a lot of skill leaving the industry that’s been here for years, and there are more people that are exiting our industry than entering,” Vigue said.
The company has signed a lease for the former UTC building, which is owned by the nonprofit Pittsfield Economic Expansion Corp. Next year, Cianbro plans to buy the building located at 129 Hunnewell Ave., near the company’s headquarters.
Vigue said the new building will expand its current space for training workers.
The technology center building, about a half mile from UTC’s shuttered manufacturing center, previously served as office and lab space. Cianbro said that it plans to renovate the building to meet its training needs, adding classrooms, office space for instructors, space for larger trainings and a fitness center.
UTC announced in March 2014 that it would close its Pittsfield facilities as it consolidated production at three facilities, in Lincolnton, North Carolina, and overseas in Mexico and China.
Vigue said the company has hired about 500 employees so far this year, with hiring demand driven half by new work and half from retirements.
And he said the company expects to take on more construction projects in each of the major segments it serves next year.
That includes the company’s work in institutional buildings, industrial buildings, fossil fuel and chemical processing, transportation infrastructure and electricity generation and transmission lines.
“We’re seeing growth all across the board,” Vigue said.
The property has been listed and marketed since earlier this year, with a sale price of $575,000. Cianbro did not specify the terms of its lease or sale agreement with the local economic development agency.