UPDATE: Sig Sauer HQ to Move From Exeter to Pease

UPDATE, 9 a.m.

The exact terms of Sig Sauer's deal to lease a building at the Pease Tradeport were not disclosed, however the deal includes a purchase option.

A Sig official said the company will spend $7.5 million on the new facility – a hefty sum that indicates it may well buy it in future years.

UPDATE, 8:40 a.m.

We just spoke with PDA Executive Director Dave Mullen.

He said it was all the way back in 2003 when a company was operating out of the building Sig is now moving into.

He said it's great to have it occupied again.

The building is located at 72 Pease Boulevard in Newington. It has high visibility at the tradeport, as it's located at one of its entrances.

There are more than 7,000 workers at the Pease Tradeport. Sig's move there will add at least a few hundred more.

UPDATE, 8:30 a.m.

We just spoke with Steven Shawver, a Sig Sauer vice president. He said the reason behind the move was space. He said its Exeter facilities were too small to accomodate its growth.

Sig's new building at 72 Pease Boulevard in Newington is twice the size of its Exeter faciltiies.

Sig plans on keeping its Exeter facilties. It will move "some" of its roughly 570 employees in Exeter to Pease. Exeter has been Sig's official headquarters since the early 1990s.

Shawver said the company plans to add at least 30 jobs soon to bring its total over 600.

UPDATE, 8:16 a.m.

And it's official. Pease Development Authority officials unanimously approved Sig's plan to expand at Pease.

Sig will move into a huge facility at 72 Pease Boulevard in Newington. Newington Selectmen and George Bald, commissioner of New Hampshire Division of Resources and Economic Development, gave their blessing for the move.

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Gunmaker , one of Exeter's largest manufacturers, plans on moving its headquarters from Exeter to the Pease Tradeport.

Officials are currently working out the details at a meeting of the Pease Development Authority. A deal has not yet been finalized.

Sig plans on keeping its Exeter facilties. It will, however, move "some" of its employees from Exeter to the tradeport building at 72 Pease Boulevard in Newington.

Sig will become one of the landmark tenants at Pease, as the Newington building is prominently featured at one of the entrances to the tradeport.

Sig Sauer, which makes firearms for military and law enforcement personnel, has operated out of its Exeter headquarters since the early 1990s. It currently has about 570 employees and plans to expand to more than 600. It also has a shooting range in Epping.

Because of strong international firearm demand, Sig has tripled in size over the last five years, company officials said. It plans on making 2,000 guns a day when it moves into the Pease building.

Sig officials plan to buildn an indoor shooting range at the new Pease building.

Sig currently manufactures 14 types of pistols, nine types of rifles, and a bunch of accessories.