SOUTH DEERFIELD — After years of searching, NUPRO LLC, a polyurethane manufacturer based in Deerfield and Whately, has found its new home only a few miles up the road with plans to expand its production and add more than 50 jobs.

The company in August purchased two parcels of land off of Merrigan Way in South Deerfield from the town — for $450,000 and $62,500 — and plans to relocate its headquarters there in 2024. NUPRO currently has two production facilities, one already in Deerfield and one at 10 Sandy Lane in Whately next to the Whately Town Offices.

NUPRO Managing Director and co-founder Jeff Ethier said the company has experienced “rapid growth” over the last several years and that it has been looking for a new space to house its operations under one roof since 2019. NUPRO, which was founded in 2015, develops polyurethane film, which is primarily used to protect paint on vehicles from chipping or other abrasions.

“We did a 15-mile radius from basically Deerfield and our search came up pretty empty,” Ethier said. “It’s hard to find good industrial space in Franklin County.”

After searching for a while, Ethier said the company was informed Deerfield was seeking to sell these two parcels, which have changed hands several times over the last 15 years. The Oxford Pickle shop operated on the site until 2007 and the town acquired the land in 2012. In 2018, the town sold the land to New England Natural Bakers for a proposed development that never took off. The town reacquired it in 2019 and divided the parcel into two lots — one of which is a 1-acre non-building lot — in 2020 before looking for a buyer in 2021. NUPRO was awarded a purchase bid in October 2021 and finalized the purchase at the end of August.

With the new land in hand, NUPRO plans to build an approximately 124,680-square-foot building that will serve as the company’s headquarters, manufacturing and storage facility. Ethier said the company currently leases its two other buildings and will “exit those and move under one roof” when this project is complete.

Remaining in the region, Ethier said, will allow NUPRO to continue to grow as one of the “premiere” employers of Franklin County by offering high-wage manufacturing jobs, which will bring more revenue to the town.

“We’re committed to staying in Franklin County,” Ethier said, adding that paying high wages to their workers will help the region grow. “If we can keep our employees happy, that means keeping our customers happy, leading to being a much more profitable business in Franklin County. You’re investing in the local economy that way.”

The key to the relocation efforts, beyond the “desire to stay local,” Ethier said, was to find a place to house the more than 50 employees NUPRO already has and then try to double that in the near future.

“Over the next five years we plan on creating additional capacity for production … essentially double or triple capacity,” he said.

The plan is to move into the building by April 2024. On Wednesday night, NUPRO began the expedited permit application process with the Selectboard. The board signaled its support for the project, but did not take a vote because it will be contracting Berkshire Design Group to conduct a peer review of the stormwater and wetland management plans — a decision that Planning Board Chairw Analee Wulfkuhle and the Conservation Commission agreed with at a Sept. 22 meeting.

NUPRO’s public hearing will continue at the Nov. 2 Selectboard meeting.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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