A Wisconsin-based precision manufacturer is putting down deeper roots in Armstrong County, announcing a $31.7 million investment that will build a new 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on 20 acres in Freeport and create 64 new jobs over the next four years. Brunk Industries, which designs custom tooling and produces parts for the medical device, aerospace, automotive and defense industries, says it will also retain 11 existing full-time positions as part of the project.
Governor Josh Shapiro announced the investment, as reported by WPXI, with Pennsylvania putting more than $4.1 million toward the project. According to PennWatch.org, that state package breaks down into a $4 million loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority for real estate and construction costs, plus a $160,000 WEDnetPA grant to cover employee job training. The new construction marks the first phase of a multiphase project at the site, per the WPXI report.
From a Leased Suite to a Standalone Plant
Brunk Industries first entered the Pittsburgh region in 2021, taking space at an Armstrong County industrial park and creating what the company calls a Tooling Center of Excellence, according to the same WPXI account. That toehold has since grown into a 6,000-square-foot lease at Tech Center II, located within RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park in Freeport, roughly 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The new 20,000-square-foot facility will sit on 20 acres within that same park, expanding well beyond the company's original leased footprint.
The Freeport location functions as what's known as the Brunk Technology Center, focused on custom tool and die design, die components, rapid prototyping and engineering support that feeds the company's broader production pipeline, according to Modern Metals. Rather than a standard assembly plant, it operates as an advanced design and engineering hub, with tool and die components created in Freeport supporting micro-precision manufacturing work across North America and Europe. Company leadership chose Western Pennsylvania for the expansion specifically because of the region's dense concentration of tool-and-die infrastructure and its experienced industrial workforce, the trade outlet notes.
A Family Business With Deep Roots and High-Precision Work
Brunk Industries was founded in 1960 by Bertil and Ulla Brunk in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and remains a third-generation family-owned business today, with operations spanning Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Galway, Ireland. The company specializes in micro-precision and light-gauge metal stamping and produces complex component assemblies, employing over 70 journeyman toolmakers and designers who craft production tooling capable of holding tight tolerances across millions of manufacturing cycles. That level of precision matters for the highly regulated end markets Brunk serves, including implantable medical devices, aerospace and defense. Company-wide, Brunk employs 300 people.
Why Freeport's Industrial Park Can Move Fast
Part of what makes rapid construction possible is the site itself. RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park, formerly known as Northpointe Industrial Park before the Regional Industrial Development Corporation took ownership and rebranded it in June 2022, holds an open master NPDES permit, according to the Armstrong County Industrial Development Council. That permit lets incoming industrial tenants skip standalone environmental review delays and break ground within 45 days. The 925-acre park also features a redundant fiber optic ring and an on-site 138kV electrical substation, infrastructure built to support fast-moving industrial tenants like Brunk.
The Freeport project lands amid a broader wave of state-backed investment in Armstrong County. In July, state officials awarded $6.75 million in regional capital grants across southwestern Pennsylvania, including $1.25 million for electrical upgrades at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital and $3.5 million for industrial park site work in New Kensington, as Hoodline previously reported. Statewide, Pennsylvania officials say they have secured more than $41 billion in private-sector economic development investments between January 2023 and August 2026, creating over 25,000 new jobs, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Housing Follows the Jobs
Industrial growth in the park isn't happening in isolation. South Buffalo Township officials approved plans in 2025 to build 60 single-family homes inside RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park to support local workforce housing needs, according to TribLIVE. That residential build reportedly represents Armstrong County's first major single-family housing subdivision in decades, pairing new rooftops with the manufacturing jobs arriving next door.
What remains unclear is exactly when Brunk will break ground on this first construction phase and how quickly the company expects to fill the 64 promised positions over the four-year hiring window. Those details had not been specified as of the announcement.
