Celebrating 75 years of business in Selkirk, Security Plumbing and Heating Supply plans to expand.
Giving its initial presentation to the town’s Planning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 7, representatives said they wanted to expand the Selkirk warehouse to just over 43,000 square feet. The 10.49-acre parcel on Maple Avenue is slated to contain 41,440 square feet of warehouse space and 1,084 square feet of office space on site, according to Michael Morelli, assistant director of economic development and planning.
They’ve been here in town for over 74 years, Morelli said. `We want to make sure we accommodate them and help get their expansion moving forward.`
The Selkirk warehouse is the company’s headquarters location, according to Morelli.
Security Supply is a wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating and air-conditioning products.
The company got its start in 1923 when 22-year-old William M. Bennett moved from Delmar to Selkirk and began a plumbing business. In 1926, Harold L. Williams came to Selkirk from Laurens and joined the business, and Earl D. Vadney joined as their bookkeeper in 1929.
Williams and Vadney went on to found Security Supply Corporation in 1934 and took root during the Depression, with outlets opened in Albany in 1934 and in Schenectady in 1938. According to the company’s Web site, www.secsupply.com, all of the supply locations were closed from 1942-45 as Bennett served in the Navy, Vadney in the Army, and Williams worked for General Electric in Schenectady as a prime defense contractor.
The company continued to grow in the 1950s and ’60s, with Bennett eventually retiring in 1961 and Williams in 1966.
Vadney died while still serving the company in 1962. With the company’s latest acquisition with the purchase of a new location in Saratoga Springs, Security Supply now has 12 stores in New York and Massachusetts.
Planning board member Katherine McCarthy said she was pleased to see the expansion in Selkirk.
`These guys have been around for quite some time and have grown in the area,` McCarthy said. `It’s good to see they plan on staying and are going to expand in Selkirk.`
Morelli said the company was granted a setback variance for the town’s zoning board of appeals, but should have no major issues expanding in the Rural Light Industrial zone.
`It looks like a great project,` Morelli said, adding that the planning board will be looking at some more detailed information on the project such as its stormwater management plan.
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