Italy-based Pietro Fiorentini is expanding in the northern panhandle in a move state officials say will create 41 jobs in phase one, and up to 150 when fully operational, and more than $9 million in capital investment.
“Pietro Fiorentini USA is very impressed with the commitment to economic development and job growth demonstrated by the State, Brooke County, the City of Weirton and the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle. We are grateful to Brooke County Commissioner Jim Andreozzi, Weirton Mayor Harold Miller and others for their hard work and collaboration to create this win-win agreement,” said David Watkins, President of Pietro Fiorentini USA, at the real estate closing last Friday.
The expansion, on land purchased by Pietro Fiorentini last week, is set to take place on 26.4 acres in the Three Springs Business Park, owned by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority (WVEDA), in Weirton. Although the company has a sales office and a distributorship in the United States, the site will be the first U.S. manufacturing plant for the Italian company. The new facility will produce pressure regulators, valves, and pressure reducing and metering systems for the natural gas industry. Pietro Fiorentini distributes in more than 80 countries around the world.
“On behalf of the Brooke County Commissioners and the residents for whom we serve, we want to thank Pietro Fiorentini for choosing to locate its first United States production operation in the northern panhandle,” stated Brooke County Commissioner and Executive Board member of the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle (BDC) Jim Andreozzi. “Brooke County and the City of Weirton are committed to provide the necessary assistance to Pietro Fiorentini to forge a lifelong partnership and wish them much success.”
Alongside Commissioner Andreozzi and representatives from Pietro Fiorentini at the real estate closing were Weirton Mayor Harold “Bubba” Miller, Weirton City Manager Travis Blosser, and BDC Executive Director Patrick Ford.
“We continue to be pleased with the growth of our community and are thrilled to have Pietro Fiorentini play a critical role in our continued shift forward,” said City Manager Travis Blosser.
“On Behalf of the board of directors of the BDC, we want to thank Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, WV Secretary of Commerce Keith Burdette, WVEDA Executive Director David Warner, WV International Division General Manager for Europe Angela Mascia and all who assisted in the recruitment of this manufacturing company which has been underway since 2012.”
Ford, on hand to execute the memorandum of understanding between Pietro Fiorentini and the BDC partners, went on to say this project was made possible by commitments from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the West Virginia Development Office, the Brooke County Commission, the City of Weirton, and the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle.
This is the fourth major industrial project announced in the Three Springs Business Park in the past five years, joining Rue21, Barney’s Bakery, and North American Industrial Services.
“It’s through hard work and partnerships that we continue to move our community forward, creating jobs and growing our local economy,” said Mayor Miller after the real estate transaction.
About the BDC
Formed in 1993 and chartered as a 501-C3 (private, not for profit) organization, the BDC is the designated economic development organization for Brooke and Hancock counties. The BDC is dedicated to preserving and creating jobs, encouraging private investment, and reducing the unemployment rate in the northern panhandle. The BDC gets its support from the WV Development Office, WV Economic Development Authority, USEDA, USEPA, Benedum Foundation, private investors, Brooke and Hancock Counties, and the cities of Beech Bottom, Bethany, Weirton, New Cumberland, and Chester.