FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — A year and a half after a plane crashed into its Farmington building, a high-tech manufacturing company is now expanding.

Trumpf, Inc. broke ground Thursday morning on a new facility. Trumpf is a German-based company that specializes in precision laser tools. Its Farmington facility includes research, development, manufacturing and demonstration space.

On the morning of Sept. 2, 2021, a small plane took off from Robertson Airport with the emergency brake on. It only made it a few hundred feet before it slammed into Trumpf Manufacturing.

The four people onboard the plane died. Four more people inside the Trumpf building were injured — at least one badly burned.

“Everyone on our team has been working very hard in the last months to rebuild after the devastating plane crash in September of 2021,” Trumpf President and CEO Lutz Labisch said.

Gov. Ned Lamont helped the company break ground for what will be a 56,000 square foot production facility.

“So, it’s just an example of not only what you’re doing in terms of precision manufacturing and getting the job done, but what it means for the broader ecosystem,” Lamont said.

The rebuilding is also an expansion.

“This expansion project is not just to recover but to grow stronger,” Labisch said. “We are taking a step forward into the future of manufacturing. Not just for Trumpf, but also for our customers here in Connecticut and across the U.S.”

The new building marks Trumpf’s seventh expansion in the U.S. The company is coming off a year of serious growth and is investing some $40 million in the new building. The company plans to have it operational in May 2024.