High-Tech Simsbury Defense Contractor's Expansion Approved

SIMSBURY, CT — A major employer in town and a key player in the national defense and aerospace industry received the go-ahead from town officials this month to build an expansion.

The Simsbury Zoning Commission Feb. 5 unanimously approved a "site plan amendment" that allows Simsbury-based Ensign Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBAD) to build an addition at its site.

EBAD has manufacturing and engineering operations in Kentucky and California, but the company headquarters and another manufacturing facility are located at 640 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury.

This particular EBAD location is listed at 100 Grist Mill Road, Simsbury.

The site is zoned industrial, but the "site plan amendment" is necessary because the addition would be a new use to the already approved permit for the location.

EBAD manufactures complex electronic components and features in various U.S. Defense Department weaponry, such as missiles and ordnance, and NASA projects.

The addition approved would be 3,627 square feet and be used to test the various components manufactured at the facility.

EBAD, a privately owned company, employs about 750 nationally.

According to EBAD representative Gus Jasminski, who presented the project to the zoning board on Feb. 6, the addition is a new part of a prior building recently purchased at the site.

He said EBAD is expanding manufacturing operations in Simsbury, but the new building cannot accommodate the necessary testing equipment for the electronic components manufactured by the defense/aerospace contractor.

"We are expanding our manufacturing operations and, as part of that, we just can't squeeze all of our test equipment into the building. So, we're seeking to add a little over a 3,600-square-foot addition to the back of the building," Jasminski said to the zoning board last week.

Jasminski said the new addition would blend in with the current facility and wouldn't even be visible to residents of nearby homes and condominiums.

Specifically, Jasminski said the testing area in the new addition would place the electronics under specific physical extremes.

"We're making electronic products and everything has to be tested — heated, cooled and shaken," Jasminski said.

He added the new addition would be soundproof and any noise from the new test site would be contained inside.

Zoning board members had a few minor questions and quickly approved the application.

For all documents related to the application, click on this link.