“This let’s us do that, otherwise, we’d have to look seriously at moving to Tucson or another location,” Mulligan said, adding that the company has 24 employees and is hiring nine more.

Daniel Crawford, owner of Control Vision, said he’s in the same boat.

The former Raytheon engineer and Marine said he has 13 employees who design and make imaging systems that help guide controls for industrial processes like precision casting and welding. He said he plans to hire six or seven more people in the near future.

“We’re growing really fast and the little office space we have in Sahuarita, we’ve outgrown,” said Crawford, recalling how Mulligan helped him launch his then garage-based business in 2011 by giving him some extra space at the time.

Crawford says he lives near Sahuarita and is happy the town is giving him space to grow.

“I like the small-town feel,” he said.

Hydronalix and Control Vision are expected to take up all but about 5,000 square feet of the SAMTEC building, Gonzalez said.

But there is room to expand SAMTEC on the town land and it is part of an undeveloped area, including private land, of about 60 acres that is zoned for business parks.

Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner

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