Affival extends lease, expands space at New Kensington manufacturing park

A business serving the steel industry has extended its lease and expanded its space at the New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park.

Affival’s lease will run through Jan. 31, 2035. With an addition of 12,000 square feet, it will occupy just over 152,000 square feet in three buildings, the Regional Industrial Development Corp. announced Wednesday.

The manufacturing park along the Allegheny River, spanning New Kensington and Arnold, is now a joint venture between RIDC and the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., which acquired it from New Kensington’s redevelopment authority earlier this year.

It formerly was known as Schreiber Industrial Park.

Affival supplies the steel industry with cored wire products used to change the properties of steel. It has been a tenant at the manufacturing park since 2019 and began operating there in mid-July 2020. It relocated there from Plum after considering moving out of Pennsylvania or possibly out of the country.

The company moved to the manufacturing park with 56 employees. It now has 68 and is looking to hire five more, said Curt Britton, Affival’s operations manager.

The additional space is for its engineering and service department, he said.

“We are happy to be part of RIDC’s and WCIDC’s group of industrial and manufacturing parks and look forward to working with them in the future,” Britton said. “And we’re happy to be investing in New Kensington.”

Affival, part of Opta Group, is in space previously used by Siemens in Arnold.

Pennsylvania contributed $1 million toward Affival’s move to the manufacturing park while Opta invested another $3 million and had a $2 million loan.

The state’s grant went toward the building’s floor, plumbing and roof drainage.

Timothy White, senior vice president of RIDC, said they are grateful for the support from city, county and state leaders and elected officials.

“Together, we’ll revitalize this former Alcoa site, restoring it to a thriving center for advanced manufacturing and as a source of economic activity,” White said.

The RIDC and its partners at the Westmoreland County IDC are committed to supporting companies in the manufacturing park, RIDC President Donald Smith Jr. said.

“Affival has recommitted to staying here, and we want to make sure they have what they need to grow,” he said.