DaBryan newest tenant in near-full Partnership park

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

DaBryan Coach Builders will stretch its operation to the Partnership Industrial Center.

The 20-year-old Springfield business, which manufactures limousines in five different structures at the Trafficway-Benton intersection, will construct a 48,500-square-foot facility in the industrial center, said Dan Mitchell, president and chief executive officer.

DaBryan has to move a portion of its operation to make way for the Civic Park development. One of its structures will be razed in the spring of 2000. The company wanted to remain in Springfield, and the park was the best possible relocation site, Mitchell said.

"We were looking for a good location in Springfield, and we found a lot the right size that fit our budget in the Partnership Industrial Center. It's a sound place for us to relocate," Mitchell said.

DaBryan was founded by Rick Bryant and Gary Dabney but was purchased by its employees in 1996. Bryant and Dabney remain board members, Mitchell said. The company now has about 100 employees, Mitchell said.

DaBryan is one of the five largest limousine companies in the country. The company makes about 370 limousines a year,building vehicle extensions that range from 24 to 120 inches long.

"Basically we buy the vehicles, cut them in half and build a middle. We either make the components or purchase them from other operations," Mitchell said.

In addition to limousine rental companies, the company does business with hotels, casinos, entertainers and "wealthy businessmen and women who want to own such a vehicle," Mitchell said.

The business has expanded, adding employees over the past few months, and the company plans to continue adding staff, Mitchell said.

The new facility will consolidate all of the company's operations in one place and also give it room to grow, he added.

The amount of space DaBryan has access to in its existing facilities is comparable to the 48,500 square feet it will have in the Partnership Industrial Center.

DaBryan is the 14th business to locate in the park, which is now more than 80 percent full, said Greg Williams, of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, who handles marketing for the park along with Karl Plumpe, of City Utilities, and Mary Lilly Smith, of the city of Springfield.

Williams said there are 55 acres remaining to be developed in the park, and plans are going forward for the development of a second industrial center with the same partners: the city of Springfield, City

Utilities, the Springfield Business and

Development Corporation and the chamber.

The four partners gave their approval earlier this year for a second industrial center to be built[[In-content Ad]]