An existing business in the Falling Branch Industrial Park in Christiansburg will be moving into a new 12,000 square feet additive manufacturing facility in 2027 at Lot No. 5 on Technology Drive.
MELD PrintWorks, which is a sister company of MELD Manufacturing, has also received a $150,000 grant from the Montgomery Economic Development Commission to pay for water, sewer, electric and natural gas connection fees at the site.
The MELD Manufacturing facility is located adjacent to the future site at 200 Technology Drive. The company was founded in 2018 and specializes in metal additive manufacturing technologies, particularly the Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFSD) process.
In industrial filings, the company is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and inventor of the Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFSD) process and its equipment.
Additive Friction Stir Deposition is a revolutionary metal 3D printing process that builds parts without melting. The result is stronger and more reliable components with unmatched performance. Now, MELD produces the machines that make the process possible.
According to a press release, the new purpose-built facility will provide PrintWorks with the necessary room for expansion of operations while facilitating bigger parts made by larger MELD metal printers.
CEO Nanci Hardwick said this investment in Montgomery County reflects the rich resources of the community, where manufacturing is celebrated and technology is critical.
“As global supply chain constraints continue to impact the availability of traditional metal forgings and castings, industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, and shipbuilding have increasingly turned to MELD PrintWorks for high-performance components,” she said.
The newly custom-designed building will house expanded production lines, including next-generation solid-state 3D printing equipment capable of fabricating large-scale parts without melting the underlying metal alloy.
President Larry Vicari said the company’s trajectory over the last few years has been driven entirely by its customers’ needs for reliable, open-atmosphere metal printing that side-steps traditional casting vulnerabilities.
This dedicated new facility, according to MELD, will allow them to scale operations, implement enhanced quality control architectures, and provide customers with high-value components at unmatched lead times.
The new facility is specifically designed to transition MELD’s solid-state technology directly into high-throughput production environments, scaling the manufacturing of massive components out of highly sought-after alloys including aluminum, titanium, and copper.
The company says this strategic expansion positions MELD PrintWorks at the epicenter of manufacturing innovation in southwest Virginia, leveraging close regional ties to high-tier engineering institutions to maintain an advanced workforce pipeline.
The Falling Branch Corporate Park is a 300-acre business park located in Christiansburg. Several other major announcements are expected in the next few months.
