Good economic news is hard to come by these days, but local industries are starting to see some signs of improvement.

On Monday, Seymour Common Council approved a request for a 10-year tax abatement and statement of benefits from Excel Manufacturing Inc. in Seymour. The company will be investing $950,000 to purchase new manufacturing equipment for its plant at 1705 E. Fourth St.

Excel designs, produces and assembles automotive parts and other fixtures from cast iron, aluminum, steel and bronze.

“I’m glad to report that things are finally improving,” said Brent Kilgas, vice president and owner of Excel. “2009 was an ugly year for the local economy, us included.”

Recently, the plant has seen an “increased demand from customers,” he said.

“There are some new opportunities to serve those customers and we have a need to add new manufacturing equipment,” he said. “As the economic climate has started to improve, we have been receiving new orders from our customer base, and market forecasts indicate we will need to increase our present capacity.”

To do that, the company will purchase CNC turning centers, CNC machining centers and special machines and assembly equipment.

Kilgas said the three new pieces of equipment will allow the company to begin running one shift and he hopes to find new business to run two shifts.

“In addition, we will invest in equipment to re-process some of our existing business in order to remain competitive,” Kilgas said.

The investment will add three additional employees to Excel’s work force and allow the company to retain its 67 other workers, many of whom have been laid off.

“We have called everyone back that wanted to come back,” he said. “Some were successful in finding new jobs and we are starting to hire some new people.”

The company had sought and was approved for tax abatement on equipment in 2008, but didn’t purchase the equipment at that time because of the economic downturn.