Construction is almost complete on a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Delaware and the company that will fill the massive space is already looking to expand its footprint in the future.
Great Outdoor Cottages, a cabin manufacturer that’s been temporarily working out of Millsboro, plans to move into the Delaware Coastal Business Park this fall, expanding operations as demand for affordable vacation spots during the pandemic continues to hold strong.
“There’s a strong demand beyond the manufacturing ability for folks to produce these units,” said John Longino, the company’s chief financial officer. “The temporary facility was really something we needed because we had demand … and we scrambled to make sure not to lose this opportunity.”
Longino said the company, while it continues operations at a makeshift facility in Millsboro and waits for the first full plant in Georgetown to be completed, also is in talks with contractors to build a second 30,000-square-foot facility within the same business park in the not-so-distant future. While the first plant that’s currently in the works would house the basic manufacturing operations, the second would serve as both warehouse space and a prototype plant to explore new designs.
Great Outdoor Cottages, founded by Ocean City, Md., hospitality group Blue Water Development, began operations in late 2020 with a small management team. The company has since grown to 62 employees and plans to expand to 150 staff members once the Georgetown plant is operational.