Shoe company plans to occupy vacant Bass plant in Wilton

WILTON – A company that makes custom shoes for people with diabetes plans to occupy the former G.H. Bass shoe factory that has been vacant since the venerable shoemaker shut down its Maine operations last year.

New England Orthotic and Diabetic Shoe Co., a division of U.S. MedSys Corp., is close to completing a deal to lease 10,000 square feet in the former Bass plant, according to Gil Reed, a partner with Nichols Development Corp., which is brokering the arrangement.

The company plans to invest upward of $500,000 and hopes to be operating by mid-July, said Anthony Rubino, chief financial officer for Denver-based U.S. MedSys. The company has hired a plant manager from Wilton and hopes to have 17 employees by the end of next year.

Rubino said the company looked at sites in New Jersey, South Carolina, Massachusetts and other towns in Maine before deciding on Wilton. The company will bring computerized machinery to make shoes and orthotics designed for people who have circulation issues related to diabetes.

The company was drawn to the area because it has plenty of workers who will need little training, Rubino said. The company also hopes to get Pine Tree Zone status, which would offer tax breaks for up to 10 years.

“It made a lot of sense being up here,” Rubino said.

U.S. MedSys operates as a network marketing and distribution organization, which provides medical technology and support services to the healthcare industry.

G.H. Bass & Co. last year shut down its Maine operations, marking the end of its presence in the state where it was founded in 1876 by George Henry Bass.

Bass already had ceased shoe manufacturing in Maine when it closed its manufacturing plant in Wilton in 1998 and moved manufacturing to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. That move resulted in 350 job cuts.

The Wilton plant served as a distribution center until it shut down last year.