A homegrown welding and fabrication company is expanding and relocating its headquarters to Marana, with plans to bring 169 new jobs to the region.
PVB Fabrications Inc. bought 10 acres at 8037 and 8041 W. Tangerine Road for a 15,000-square-foot office building and three, 30,000-square-foot fabrication and production buildings.
Currently located at 911 W. Grant Road with 375 employees, PVB plans to add 169 jobs in the next five years primarily in operations, project management, engineering and finance.
The first phase of the $17 million project is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
“PVB’s new headquarters is a logical and necessary step in our business growth strategy,” said Peter Van Bogaert, president of PVB. “It provides the opportunity to further expand our operations and will increase our ability to serve current and future clients.”
Founded in 2003, PVB provides welding, fabrication and construction services primarily to the utility, heavy industrial and mining sectors.
“We are thrilled to welcome PVB to north Marana," said Marana Mayor Ed Honea. "PVB's projects span the entire southwest, we’re excited to have another quality business in the town and look forward to seeing them grow.”
Joe Snell, president and CEO of the region’s economic development group, Sun Corridor Inc., noted that headquarter expansions have a “tremendous ripple effect” on the local economy.
Along with Sun Corridor, partners in the project included the Arizona Commerce Authority, the Town of Marana, the Pima Community College and the Small Business Development Center, PICOR, Randel Jacob Design Group, Stewart Title, Eric Nadler Esq. and Arizona First Properties.
Old PVB building to get new life
The building that PVB currently operates out of has been bought by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe for $740,000, documents from the Pima County Recorder’s Office show.
The building is adjacent to the tribe’s existing property on West Grant Road and Interstate 10 that is being developed — potentially into a new casino.
Last year the City of Tucson entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the tribe, a required step to get the land put into a trust by the federal government.
According to the IGA, if a casino is built there — at the site of a former movie theater — the city would get a portion of the revenue and agree to cross-deputize Tucson police to conduct law enforcement activities on tribal land.
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has agreed to give the city 90 days notice before adopting any formal resolution on the plans for the 14.38-acre site that they bought in 2011.
Tribal Chairman Robert Valencia said there are no definitive plans for the PVB building or the larger site as work needs to be done before the official application is made to put the land into a trust.
“It will take years,” he said, adding that any plans will be made in the best interest of tribal members.
“The community is one of the oldest sites that has been continuously inhabited by our people and our ceremonial grounds are a very important part of the site,” Valencia said. “We want to look at the economic development portion so we can help create job opportunities for our people and people that are around there so we positively impact the area.
“It’s important to keep the integrity of the area and we’re pretty excited about what’s next.”
