Crown West Realty

More manufacturing space needed; doubled sales three straight years

Associated Press
July 31, 2004

Purcell Systems Inc. of Liberty Lake will move its offices and manufacturing group to a new building at the Spokane Industrial Park, the company announced this week.

The move is prompted by the company’s rapid growth in selling its line of customized backup power cabinets, used primarily by wireless data and voice carriers, such as Verizon or T-Mobile. The privately held company has doubled its revenue the past three years, company officials have said.

Crown West Realty L.L.C., which operates the industrial park, signed a 10-year lease for an 81,300-square-foot building for Purcell Systems.

The need for more manufacturing space was the key driver behind the move, said company spokesman Jason Higginson.

The new building is currently an empty shell. About $1 million will be invested to renovate and upgrade the building before the move, expected in October.

Earlier this year, Purcell Systems CEO Pete Chase announced the company received $16.6 million in venture-capital funding, primarily to expand sales. That amount is the second-largest VC investment this year in Washington state. That investment came from Weston Presidio, based in San Francisco.

“We are currently experiencing three straight years of doubling our sales,” said Higginson. “We’re under pressure to make some adjustments to how we operate our manufacturing operation,” he said.

The company has about 70 area workers and has about 70 temporary employees.