BUCHANAN — Just weeks after Buchanan said goodbye to several of the buildings of the long-abandoned Clark Equipment Co. complex, the city has welcomed a new manufacturing company to town.

Vickers Engineering, a precision machining and fabrication company, is expanding its operations into a 50,000-square-foot space on South Third Street, the old home of Bosch Rexroth Corp. Vickers will maintain its headquarters at its 120,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in New Troy.

Vickers serves industrial, oil and gas and military industries and is moving its automotive and agricultural fabrication divisions to the Buchanan facility. Twenty employees are also being moved to the Buchanan building.

Matt Tyler, president and CEO of the company,  and Scott Gourlay,, vice president, both Niles High School grads, gave a tour of the building to community leaders Monday.

Tyler said the expansion came because many of the company’s customers are experiencing growth. Vickers has even had to turn away work, he said.

“We’re really in the infancy of our growth,” Tyler said. “We’ve added 56 jobs in the last year. And there is more to come.”

The company employs 165 people in two buildings.

Tyler said he is hoping the Buchanan facility will also help the company expand into the South Bend market.

“The location fits us perfectly, close to highway infrastructures,” he said. “And it’s a world-class facility close to our corporate headquarters.”

City Manager Bill Marx, who was among those who toured the facility Monday, said he is excited to see a growing business come to Buchanan.

Marx said the expansion is part of a “building momentum” in the city.

“It was bad news when Bosch decided to move out. Nobody wanted to see that,” he said. “But Bosch walked away from a beautiful building designed for heavy manufacturing. We’re very pleased Vickers chose Buchanan.”

Tyler said the success of Vickers is part of a nationwide resurgence of manufacturing.

“Regionally and nationally, manufacturing is coming back,” he said. “I think it will be key in bringing the economy back to where it needs to be.”

For more information on Vickers Engineering, visit www.vickerseng.com.