A Virginia Beach business has announced its expansion to Isle of Wight and plans to invest $400,000 in its first year of business at the new location.

East Coast Emergency Vehicles LLC has set up shop in a 5,000-square-foot space in the Isle of Wight Industrial Park, according to a press release. The company is a lighting and equipment supplier and installer for police, fire and emergency vehicles.

The reason for the company’s expansion towards the west of the Hampton Roads area is due to the “difficulty customers face coming across certain forms of passage into the area,” says Rick Allen, general manager of East Coast Emergency Vehicles.

Though the company’s customer base extends from “Northern Virginia to the Blue Ridge Mountains,” according to its website, it has been in business at their Virginia Beach location for more than five years.

Though the company currently has only nine employees, it may hire two or three new employees within the next five years, according to the press release.

Allen said the business “will need to see what comes in terms of new customers” before it decides upon further company or employee expansion.

The company has a team of Emergency Vehicle Technician Certification Commission certified installers who deal with mounting, transport and computing solutions in order to upfit emergency vehicles with lighting and equipment.

East Coast Emergency Vehicles is certified by Virginia’s Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business program, and also holds various state contracts for products and installations.

Isle of Wight Industrial Park is a large, 75-acre private park development located in Smithfield on Route 10. It currently holds eight park tenants and has sites available ranging from 2 to 11 acres.

The company’s address is 17226 Commerce Lane, Smithfield.