Kimball Midwest calls Newtown home

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 6 at Kimball Midwest’s newest distribution center in Newtown, marking the completion of renovations to the former Hubbell Wiring factory as well as the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the maintenance, repair and operations product distributor.

“As one of the owners at Kimball I want to thank the town of Newtown for all of their help,” said Dave McCurdy, the company’s chief operating officer. “From the very beginning, the first selectman has been there to advise us on how to proceed and the economic development team has been tremendously helpful for us over this journey. We deeply appreciate that support. We couldn’t be here without it. We appreciate you helping us get to this point and from here on we’ll take care of the growth with the sales team.”

The center will be a key distribution point for the national industrial supplier as it expands into the Northeast. The 142,000-square-foot facility which employs 30 full-time associates allows the company to provide significantly faster shipping to customers across New England who need parts, supplies, and materials ranging from hand soap to electrical components and hydraulic fluid.

Regional customers will be able to enjoy faster shipping on many products thanks to the completion of the center. According to Dan Barnett, the assistant manager of the distribution center, 80% of all products to be sent from the facility were U.S.-made, with a targeted same-day order fulfillment rate of 99%.

Patrick McCurdy III, Kimball Midwest’s president and Dave McCurdy’s nephew, reflected on the company’s good fortune to last a full century, and also have the opportunity to celebrate the occasion at the new facility.

“It took us over nine months to try to find a location,” the younger McCurdy said. “We looked in the northeast in a lot of places and certainly felt like this was home, and it has turned out incredibly well. The customers, the sales team and the whole Northeast are going to be served much more effectively because of this facility and the work and effort everybody has put in.”

The younger McCurdy went on to note that Kimbal Midwest’s Reno, Nevada-based distribution center had more than doubled in staff size since opening and that the interaction with local government and the community made him confident that this could come to pass in Newtown as well.

“Our purpose is to empower those we interact with to thrive,” he said.

Daniel Rosenthal, Newtown’s first selectman, welcomed the company during the ceremony by noting, “It was certainly a happy day driving in here and seeing the Kimball Midwest masthead out there. I was here last when Hubble was still here, in the fall of 2016. I looked at this large building here and I kind of said, ‘Okay, that’s going to be a project.’”

“Since the town owns a few hundred thousand square feet of 1930s-vintage mental health space around the corner, I know how fast things can go sideways if you don’t get a new tenant,” Rosenthal added, making a jokey reference to the still largely abandoned Fairfield Hills Hospital. “It’s great to see a family business replace a family business and make the big investments they’ve made in this facility.

Following the ribbon cutting, Tracy Bosley, the distribution center’s manager, Bosley presented a check for $10,000 to Mark Barden, co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund, who accepted it on behalf of the nonprofit founded in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

“We can say with certainty that students who have been trained in our programs have now prevented 15 school shootings,” Barden said, noting the funds would help the organization offer free training to schools and with hotlines for spotting signs of dangerous behavior. “Thanks to the generous donation that you are making to us today we are going to turn that right back around and bring it back to the schools, and not only prevent bad things but train students how to look out for one another, be upstanding citizens, and be kinder, more compassionate, and more aware of each other. And it’s working thanks to your help.”