More than two years after construction began, a company is operating out of a shell building the city of Franklin helped build.
Hetsco Inc., which conducts routine and emergency maintenance and construction management and labor for power plants and industrial operations, moved into the building on Graham Road in May.
The company relocated from Greenwood, with plans to expand and add 40 jobs.
Franklin committed to spending up to $100,000 for utilities, taxes and interest payments for the building and would have had to pay $450,000 for the 11 acres of land if the building wasn’t sold by September. With that commitment, a developer constructed the 51,000-square-foot building but did not finish the inside so the company that moved in could do what it needed with the facility.
Multiple companies considered the building, and Greenwood is now considering a similar project.
The building worked out well for Hetsco, which has massive cranes inside the facility to help lift heavy equipment, Franklin Mayor Joe McGuinness said.
The company announced its relocation plans in June 2014 and planned to finish the interior of the building. Officials said they could open about six months sooner than if they built a new facility, since part of the building was constructed. The company had outgrown its headquarters off Pushville Road in Greenwood and wanted to combine multiple leased offices into one location.
Now, the interior is complete with two stories of office space and 40,000 square feet of operational space, the mayor said.
The company employs about 50 people and could hire more soon, McGuinness said.
Hetsco’s positions include managers and operators with pay ranging from $22 to $44 per hour and new jobs would have an average wage of about $27 per hour, according to the documents the company filed with the city. The company had planned to hire 10 workers each year through 2018, with a mix of shop workers, such as welders and millwrights, and professional positions, including engineers and project managers.
