GAINESVILLE - Masterwork Customs, Inc., is breathing new life into the former Chambers Lumber Company warehouse building on Bradford Street in Gainesville.<br />
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Relocating from Hoschton, Masterworks recently moved into its new facility.<br />
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Prudential Georgia Realty Commercial Real Estate Agent Brent Hoffman helped bring together the new tenants with building owner, Ed H. Chambers, Jr. <br />
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"I was working with Mr. Chambers to find a tenant for his building," said Hoffman. "When I was contacted by Zack Benham and Chuck Wheat (Masterwork Customs president and vice- president of sales and marketing respectively) to find a building for their company in Gainesville, I knew it would be a perfect fit."<br />
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Masterwork Customs is a wholesale sign fabrication company that handles the manufacturing, installation and distribution of custom electronic signs. Their customer base is mainly retail sign companies; however, they deal with small shops, as well as national companies. <br />
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Asked why they chose to relocate in Gainesville, Benham said the area is more central to Atlanta than the previous location. And local sign companies are fast becoming allies. "Since we don't sell retail, we rely on the sign companies for business," Wheat stated. "It's like having a giant sales force out there." <br />
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"Most people don't realize how awesome industry is in Gainesville," Benham continued. "The reason there are so many established companies here is because the people running the local businesses are good at what they do." <br />
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Masterworks has grown into a million-dollar-a-year company in three years and company officials expect sales to more than double in the next few years.<br />
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City Manager Kip Padgett, commenting on the company's move, said "getting new business in our midtown area is great for our city." <br />
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"Anytime we can get a company to move to Gainesville and add jobs it's an obvious boost to our local economy." <br />
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Padgett is also pleased to see companies move back into the vacated midtown buildings. <br />
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Masterworks presently has six employees; however, their goal is to more than double that in the next year or two. According to Benham, they "plan on staying in Gainesville for a long time."
