Monroeville factory expansion gets $1 million boost

A construction project in Monroeville that has been in the works for years recently got a $1 million boost from state grant funding.

Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc. (BPMI) was included in the latest round of grant awards from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program of the state’s Office of the Budget.

BPMI and Elmhurst Group, the real estate firm representing the company in the project, were not immediately available to comment.

The project, approved by Monroeville council in July 2017 and now in its second phase, includes building a 100,000 square-foot, three-story addition. In order to proceed, the company will need to purchase 4.5 acres next to the existing facility along Technology Drive.

According to the Office of the Budget, BPMI requested $4 million from RACP but only received $1 million.

The grant, which requires a match, was included in $274 million that was awarded to more than 200 projects out of nearly 500 that applied statewide. Grant requests totaled about $1.73 billion.

BPMI expects the addition to double its employment at the site, according to information provided during a Monroeville council meeting in 2017. Employment at the complex, including the current 179,000-square-foot Bechtel office, could grow over a five-year span to 1,200 BPMI workers.

According to its website, BPMI is a prime contractor for the United States Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, a research arm within the Department of Energy that was originally formed to develop atomic energy.