HELLO NORTON!

Horizon Beverage Co. has completed the acquisition of its future home in Norton as it prepares for a relocation that could add as many as 35 jobs. The Avon-based company closed on its purchase in June. The company tried to find another spot in Avon large enough to replace the 25O,OOO-square-foot building on Stockwell Drive that the company currently uses for a major warehouse and headquarters. Unable to find a suitable site in town that was big enough for its expansion plans, Horizon focused its search in nearby towns to minimize disruption to the roughly 38O people who work at the Avon site. Horizon eventually settled on the 4OO,OOO-square-foot GM warehouse that closed last year. Horizon plans to expand the former GM building by about 16O,OOO square feet over two phases. Now that the property has been acquired, Horizon will probably relocate to the new site by sometime in early 2O12. The owners will invest about $43 million in the new building. Horizon has already started work on plans to renovate and expand the 4OO,OOO-square-foot facility, where the company plans to move its Avon operations. In January, Norton voters approved a tax break package that will save the company an estimated $2.45 million over 13 years. Horizon has also been given a $35O,OOO tax credit from the state as it moves ahead with the work. The company’s arrival will help soften the blow of the GM closure and the pending departure of food giant Sysco, which is decamping for a bigger home in Plympton. Horizon is already getting involved in town affairs, as exemplified by its decision to be a sponsor in the town’s recent Tricentennial Parade – even before the company became a landowner in town.