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Company spokesperson Rebekah Sneed confirmed the global-focused growth to ILN on Tuesday, just days after the area’s board of supervisors and industrial development authority made a ceremonial announcement late last week.
“We will be adding onto our current location, advancing our current technologies for future projects and growing the company by acquiring international businesses and bringing all manufacturing jobs back to the North Tazewell office,” she said.
“Pyott-Boone is an American product and will remain that way.”
Part of the funding for the project will come from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, which earmarked a grant of $600,000 and Pyott-Boone also received a $250,000 grant from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority.
Tazewell County officials said the region, as well as the commonwealth of Virginia, had been in competition with Australia for the project.
Sneed told ILN the expansion had already begun as it had now acquired Australian firm Minecom.
“All of the manufacturing jobs for Minecom will be transitioned to the US in three to six months,” she said.
An official for the Tazewell board of supervisors noted that Pyott-Boone was one of the county’s largest manufacturing companies.
“[We] have had the privilege of working with Pyott-Boone for many years and have seen their steady growth,” county administrator and industrial development authority director Jim Spencer added.
“We are excited about this expansion in the area of job creation and capital investment and we are eager to work with the new management as they move the company forward in the global market.”
Pyott-Boone Electronics, established in 1971, was acquired by Prairie Capital and Vierville Capital in April 2011.
It was initially founded to supply eastern US coal mines with electronic equipment but over the years had expanded to include other industries worldwide.
In addition to coal operations, the supplier also sells equipment to copper, gold, metal, non-metal and salt mines as well as to tunneling operations.
