Servatron Inc., a Spokane Valley-based contract electronics manufacturer, says that after experiencing flat revenue growth in 2006, it expects to make strong gains this year and is adding floor space at its plant to prepare for future growth.


The company has leased an additional 30,000 square feet of space in the former Itron Inc. headquarters, at 2818 N. Sullivan, where it already occupies 30,000 square feet of space. Servatron also has invested just under $1 million in a third surface-mount circuit-board assembly line, which it plans to install in April, says Keith Swenson, the companys vice president of manufacturing.


Servatron, which spun off from Spokane-based Itron in 2000, expects its revenues to climb 10 percent to 15 percent this year, Swenson says. He declines to disclose the companys 2006 revenues. Servatron currently has about 180 employees, up from roughly 140 in January of last year, and could have as many as 200 employees by the end of this year, Swenson says.


Business has been going very good, he says. Weve been able to keep current customers and find new business.


Servatron designs and builds prototypes of electronic devices, makes circuit boards, and does product assembly and shipping. It manufactures products for customers throughout the western U.S., and also repairs Itrons utility meter-reading equipment and other companies products.


Servatron plans to move its purchasing, depot repair, and a portion of its manufacturing operation to the additional 30,000 square feet of space it has leased in the roughly 122,000-square-foot former Itron building. Those operations currently occupy a roughly 18,000-square-foot leased space in the nearby Spokane Business & Industrial Park. Servatron wanted to consolidate its operations into one location to increase efficiency, Swenson says.


The expansion project involves remodeling the 30,000 square feet of new space, where the operations that will move in will occupy about 18,000 square feet of space. The remaining space will be used to accommodate future growth, Swenson says. That space would have room for up to 100 more employees in multiple shifts, he says.


Leone & Keeble Co., of Spokane, is the contractor for the expansion project, and the Spokane architectural firm Madsen Mitchell Evenson & Conrad designed it. The project, which started last month, is expected to be completed by early April, says Brendan Monroe, project manager at Leone & Keeble.


Last year, Itron moved to the former Telect Inc. building in Liberty Lake and said it had agreed to sell its former headquarters building to investors.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.