Conn. gives $200,000 to companies ruined by fire

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A nearly 200-year-old East Hampton bell manufacturer and another company destroyed by fire are receiving state money to restore their businesses.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced on Wednesday that the state's Small Business Express program will provide $100,000 in matching grants each to Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Co. and P.S.I. Plus Inc.

Bevin Brothers, which was founded in 1832, makes sleigh, hand, house, cow, sheep, door and ship's bells.

P.S.I. Plus, a manufacturer of high pressure specialty gas cylinders, was a tenant in the factory complex and also was destroyed by the May 26 fire.

Bevin Brothers will use its grant to buy machinery and equipment to resume production at a new location. P.S.I. Plus plans to purchase new equipment and finance renovations.

Authorities believe a lightning strike started the fire.

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