M.C. Dean announces phase 2 of $25M expansion in Caroline

Tysons-based M.C. Dean Inc. announced Monday it has entered the second phase of its $25 million expansion, breaking ground on an 84,000-square-foot modular manufacturing and systems integration facility at its Center for Innovation and Industry in Caroline County.

The electrical engineering firm designs, builds, operates and maintains cyberphysical solutions for clients including local, state and federal government agencies, as well as corporations, hospitals and biotechnology firms.

Expected to open this fall, the new facility in Caroline County will be home to ModularMEP, M.C. Dean’s line of modular electrical buildings, rooms and assemblies, which are shipped to project and construction sites across the country. The expansion to more than 300,000 square feet will increase production and manufacturing space.

“We continue to invest significantly in our ModularMEP manufacturing capacity to deliver complex modular systems for customers’ mission critical facilities where quality, safety and speed to market are paramount,” CEO Bill Dean said in a statement. “We’ve already exceeded our growth projections, adding 150 new manufacturing jobs and doubling our under-roof production space in two years, as we scale to meet our customers’ increased demand for offsite construction.”

Since first building in Caroline in 2006, M.C. Dean has made three rounds of investment at the 585-acre site.

“M.C. Dean has helped Caroline County become a technology employment center in the region, stimulating growth, while adding capital improvements that allow further development on the site,” Reginald Underwood, chairman of the Caroline County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement.

Gov. Ralph Northam approved a $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund and a $250,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment (VIP) program for the Caroline County expansion, which was announced in 2019. M.C. Dean employs more than 4,500 people.