A manufacturer is gearing up to add at least 20 jobs and invest more than $1 million to expand.

Projects Unlimited Inc., a Dayton-based aerospace electronics company, plans to break ground later this month on the first of two additions at its Sand Lake Road facility. The projects, totalling 8,000 square feet, will accommodate the company’s growth and allow it to add a cable and harness division, said Chris Wyse, president and chief operating officer of Projects Unlimited.

Construction, being performed by Miller-Valentine Group, will cost about $1.2 million and is slated to be complete by October. Currently, the company’s facility is about 66,000 square feet.

Projects Unlimited, which has 130 employees, is a contract manufacturer of products such as anti-skid braking control boxes for regional jets and electronic components used on military jets and helicopters. About 70 percent of its work is for the defense market and about 30 percent is for the commercial market.

Wyse said the aerospace electronics segment has averaged about 30 percent annual growth during the past four years.

In the next six to eight months, Projects Unlimited will hire about 20 workers for its new cable and harness division.

The new unit — which will make the bundles of wires behind control panels of machines — will supply the company’s aerospace electronics division. It will also allow Projects Unlimited to get more aggressive in going after outside customers, he said.

Jay Kuhn, president of Mason-based business improvement firm Definity Partners, said defense-related contracts have provided a much-needed boost to the local manufacturing industry.

“It’s been strong for a number of years,” Kuhn said. “I think the big challenge is that contracts come and go, so you just have to make sure you’re able to respond to the up and down nature of that type of work.”

Projects Unlimited also is in the process of spinning off its audio components division, which will move to 3541 Stop Eight Road in Dayton.

Wyse said about $100,000 in renovations are underway to the 5,200-square-foot building, former home to a safety equipment supplier that has sat vacant for more than a year.

I F Weber Co. of Dayton is doing the renovation work, which includes gutting the building. Renovations are expected to be complete by the end of the month.

In June, Wyse Family Investments LLC purchased the 1.5 acre site on Stop Eight Road for $285,000, according to property records.

The audio division, which has 13 workers, will be called PUI Audio Inc. and operate as a subsidiary. Jack Hampshire, who currently serves as vice president, will become president of the new company and run daily operations. Wyse will act as chief executive officer.

PUI Audio is an importer of components — everything from speakers and microphones to small metal chips — that generate noise in consumer and industrial products such as drive-through speakers, ATM’s, gas pumps and smoke detectors. The company tests, warehouses and ships the products to a network of distributors.

Wyse said the audio business is being set aside so it can grow independently. It will move at the beginning of August, then add several workers.

The move will open up an additional 4,000 square feet at the parent company’s main facility to accommodate growth, he said.

Projects Unlimited was started in 1951 by Wyse’s grandfather, David S. Wyse. His father, David L. Wyse, currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer.