Italian industrial robotics company SIR SpA has chosen the California Mobility Center in Sacramento as its headquarters office to serve North America through new subsidiary SIR Robotics Inc.
SIR serves the automotive, aviation, plastics and composites, foundry and logistics industries, among others. Its robots can cut, handle, weld, finish and perform other precision industrial functions.
“The presence of an innovative, international robotics company in Greater Sacramento is a substantial development for our region,” said Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and a board member of the Mobility Center, in a news release. “The decision to set up a U.S. headquarters in Sacramento speaks to the quality of talent, resources and infrastructure we have to offer here.”
Based in Modena, Italy, the company started in 1984. It has production facilities in Modena and Shangyu, China, and sales offices in Sacramento and Günzburg, Germany, according to its website. The company designs and manufactures robotic systems for companies worldwide, and it has installed more than 4,000 of them.
"The CMC is a global resource that enhances societal safety, sustainability and equity through new mobility innovations,” said Mobility Center CEO Mark Rosekind, in a news release. “The CMC helps global companies access the North American future mobility marketplace and offers a curated partnering experience between innovators, regulators, investors and end users. SIR Robotics will add incredible value to our extensive international ecosystem.”
The company will start with four employees in Sacramento who will work in regional sales and technical support for North American customers.
“The North American market is a strategic destination for us, with notable demand for our solutions as well as automation in industrial applications,” said Simone Mulargia, SIR Robotics North and South America sales manager, in a news release.
The CMC opened 20 months ago, backed by local groups to grow an electric-powered and clean-mobility industry in Sacramento and provide job opportunities in future transportation technology for Sacramento residents. It's supported by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which led seed funding for its development, and California State University Sacramento and the University of California Davis.
The center is now located at Depot Park in Sacramento, where it has 5,000 square feet of office space and a separate 20,000-square-foot ramp-up facility to help companies develop products and prototypes using shared manufacturing equipment. The eventual plan is for the CMC to open a $120 million first-phase version of the CMC near the Sacramento State campus.
From the start, the long-term plan has been to develop a much larger center just south of Sac State as part of the planned 240-acre Sacramento Center for Innovation on Ramona Avenue. That center would work in concert with local universities and colleges, particularly with engineering schools and workforce development.
The Sacramento City Council in September agreed to fund part of the development of a larger CMC facility.
