LANSING — A 20,000-square-foot expansion, and eventually 12 new jobs, is on tap for Advanced Design Consulting USA, Inc. (ADC), which hopes to break ground on the $2 million project this summer.

“This is for future growth,” says Alexander Deyhim, president and founder of the engineering and scientific consulting firm. 

Located at 126 Ridge Road in the town of Lansing (about eight miles northeast of Ithaca), ADC provides devices, integrated systems, and high-precision components and instruments to commercial, academic, and government agencies. Clients include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and NASA. 

ADC began 18 years ago and occupied just 3,000 square feet until 10 years ago, when it added 3,200 square feet. Eight years ago, the company added another 9,000 square feet, bringing its current square footage to just over 15,000 square feet. That space is broken up between office space (2,000 square feet), assembly and testing (4,000 square feet), and manufacturing (9,000 square feet), Deyhim explains.

The only real problem with the existing space, he says, is that it lacks height, and that can be an impediment to landing larger jobs.

The addition will be 100 feet wide by 200 feet long by 26 feet high — giving ADC the height it needs to house larger equipment and projects. “It allows us to buy large machining centers,” Deyhim says. He also plans to add a 10-ton crane system to assemble larger projects.

ADC does a lot of work with physicists designing and building sophisticated equipment. About two years ago, the company completed a piece of equipment that was 72 feet long, 8 feet in diameter, and weighed 24 tons. It was a close call whether or not ADC would land the contract, Deyhim recalls, because the client wasn’t sure the company could handle the project in its small facility. “It really was a stretch for us with our present facility,” he says.

The expanded facility will help ADC land such contracts and complete them with ease, he says. The business will use about 10,000 square feet for office space and 10,000 square feet for manufacturing. Deyhim says ADC will then spruce up its existing space to be used as additional assembly and testing space.

He hopes to move into the new facility next spring. Currently, ADC is waiting for final approval on a tax-abatement package from the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency.

Along with expanding the facility, Deyhim plans to expand employment and boost sales. The company currently employs 19 people and Deyhim hopes to add 12 new jobs over the next three to five years.

Over that same period, he hopes to see sales grow as well as ADC takes advantage of the capacity of the new building. Current sales average about $4 million annually, Deyhim says. “With the new expansion, we have the capacity to grow it easily up to $20 million,” he says.

Another initiative that should help that sales growth is the company’s current effort to obtain ISO 9000 certification. ADC is currently ISO 9000 compliant, but becoming certified will open new markets such as the aerospace industry, Deyhim says. He hopes to have the certification, which the company began seeking about a year ago, in place in the third quarter of this year.

Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com