A custom supplier of foam patterns and specialty castings is seeking state funds for expansion. Local reports indicate that buyCastings.com, which operates three subsidiaries, is asking the State of Ohio for $8.75 million to help fund the addition of production capacity for foam patterns, in anticipation of higher demand for foam materials to be used in place of a shell in investment casting projects.
The Miamisburg, OH, company will seek federal funds too, to match grants the state may supply.
According to the Dayton Business Journal, which reported the story, the foam molds have been in development for the past five years, with support from the U.S. Air Force and other sources.
Potential customers for the foam would be producers of aircraft engine parts, like those manufactured by GE Aviation or Pratt & Whitney, both of which have been involved with buyCASTINGS.com in other efforts.
If the funds become available, buyCASTINGS.com would undertake a three-year R&D program, which would be followed by volume production for the new molding material. COO Neil Chaudhry estimated to the Journal that commercial operation could result in 70 new hires in the first year, and up to 175 over ten years.
Presently, buyCASTINGS.com has 12 employees and operates Fopat Productions – supplying foam patterns to investment casters; Composite & Lightweight Structures, which casts shapes in composite materials; and Solar Power and Light LLC, which installs, owns, and maintains solar photovoltaic systems.