At 60 years old, David Crick is building his eighth startup business.
Despite the announced closing last week of GE Power’s factory where Crick began his career four decades ago, the Chattanooga engineer said he still sees plenty of opportunity for growth in supplying precision parts for the power industry and other manufacturers. So last June, Crick started American Mechanized Technology and has already invested more than $2.5 million in building and production equipment to perform computerized milling, 3-D printing and other customized metal work for a variety of businesses.
“I get bored easily if I don’t have something to do,” he quipped last week during an open house in his 11,000-square-foot facility on Belle Arbor Avenue.
The company began production in February with five full-time and a part-time worker. Crick expects to have at least 20 workers within two years.
“I really anticipate outgrowing this footprint in the next few years,” he said.