Manufacturing

84 Lumber has just opened the doors on its new, 48,000-square-foot truss manufacturing facility in Powhatan.

A spokeswoman said the move comes as part of a company restructuring and the facility’s closure would eliminate more than 70 jobs.

The Henrico-based company, which gained recognition more than a decade ago for its copper-infused socks, is in the midst of a sizable capital raise to fuel its continued evolution. 

The grant money will be used to create new degree programs at Reynolds and Brightpoint community colleges to help develop the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in the Richmond-Petersburg area.

The company, founded in Richmond in 1887 and known for Duke’s Mayo and its landmark spice factory on Broad Street, will be sold from one private equity firm to another.

A Chesterfield warehouse that has changed ownership several times in recent years is now in the hands of a Swiss company that plans to convert the building into a manufacturing center.

Topsoe’s facility will make cells used for “clean hydrogen” fuel and will rise across the street from where fellow Danish firm Lego is building a $1 billion toy factory.

Members of the powerful Richmond family are once again looking to wield their position as the largest shareholders of the locally based industrial manufacturer.

The company now has 700 employees, four manufacturing facilities and raised $140 million in investor capital last year.