NEW HAVEN–It was a long-awaited homecoming on Monday.
The Elm City welcomed home the Bilco Company, a business that has been around for 85 years, but left the city in the 1950s.
The building industry manufacturer held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new James Street headquarters to officially start the next chapter of its history in New Haven.
“This is our home–we were born in 1923, and now we’re coming back home,” said Roger Joyce, of Bilco.
For years the company has been headquartered in nearby West Haven, but “the business has evolved, and it was time” to come home, said Joyce.
In fact, Bilco was asked to leave its West Haven home on Water Street because the city is developing a multi-million dollar shopping complex called The Haven.
So the company relocated to the Fair Haven neighborhood after looking at 15 different properties around the city.
“We designed this space for more efficient work flow,” said Joyce.
The Associated Press reports that the company also gave a charitable donation to the Fair Haven Community Health Center, which was accepted by representatives from United Way and the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.
