Defense contractor moves to Greene

A Virginia-based defense contractor is expanding into a 45,000-square-foot facility to produce and manufacture optical devices and develop new small-arms weapons for the military and homeland defense.

Ashbury International Group, founded in 1995, develops, builds and sells laser range finders, combat equipment, night vision devices and other optical products. It also provides rapid prototyping for defense and firearms industries, according to the company’s Web site.

The facility, in the Greene County Business and Technology Park, will allow the company to expand its engineering operations and small arms manufacturing, officials said.

Ashbury, a contractor and supplier for the Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Department of Homeland Security, is completing contracts awarded in 2004 for target sights and range finders for military equipment.

The company has an Albemarle County facility off Ivy Road that it will abandon once the Ruckersville facility is renovated, Greene County officials said. They said the high-tech company expects to hire at least 15 additional employees.

“We’re excited about Ashbury coming into the county and about their participation as corporate citizens,” said Tony Williams, Greene’s economic development director. “They are the only company in the U.S. that is producing these kinds of products and we’re excited to have them here.”

Williams said the roughly $5 million facility has potential for expansion.

“We’re still in the construction phase, but we’re looking forward to the move,” said Richard Hall, Ashbury’s vice president of business development.

Ashbury is best known in the defense industry for advanced binocular laser range-finder systems that allow soldiers on front lines to call in and guide aircraft strikes on targets using global positioning satellites. The systems have proven effective in Afghanistan and Iraq, officials said.

The company has also designed and produces a specialized rifle stock and has developed a sniper rifle that it recently unveiled at a military equipment seminar.

The larger facility will also allow the company to develop products for nonmilitary agencies and businesses in fields such as emergency preparedness and disaster response, officials said.

The Greene County site was chosen because it is close to Richmond and Washington, will allow the company to grow and provides “access to an educated workforce” and several “leading universities,” Hall said.