Hydro-Air bound for Buffalo

[steven]

Hydro-Air Components Inc. has turned down an incentive offer from North Carolina and will remain in Western New York.

Company officials confirmed Monday that the manufacturer will move from two locations in Hamburg into a 152,700-square-foot building it will erect in a former brownfield site being redeveloped in South Buffalo.

Construction on the $10 million project is expected to begin in July and be completed by the first quarter of 2007. Hydro-Air, nearly a quarter-century old, will be eligible for a state grant of $1.2 million and another $1.61 million in Empire Zone benefits.

The steel and masonry structure at the 31-acre site of the former LTV Steel Corp. plant along Tifft Street will enable the company to increase its work force through the acquisition of new business and expanding existing business.

Two hundred jobs are expected to be created by 2010, which would give the company, which now has 110 employees, a work force of 300 to 350 within four years, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Koch said. Employment will reach 150 to 160 by the end of this year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/s...l?surround=lfn

[300miles]

Hydro-Air Components will add 200 jobs in move to Buffalo
New plant will be built on ex-LTV Steel site

By MATT GLYNN
News Business Reporter -- 5/16/2006

Hydro-Air Components plans to add 200 jobs to its local operations as part of a move from the Town of Hamburg to South Buffalo.

The manufacturer confirmed Monday it will build a $7.5 million plant in South Buffalo on former LTV Steel Corp. land. The company said it will spend an additional $1 million on machinery and equipment.

Western New York was in an economic development tug-of-war with North Carolina for Hydro-Air. A tentative deal to keep the company here was announced last week.

Walter Zurowski, Hydro-Air's president and chief executive officer, said he hopes to have a new 160,000-square-foot building completed by the end of the year.

Hydro-Air makes water heating and cooling products. It expects to add the 200 new jobs over an 18-month period, and will also retain 114 existing jobs, Zurowski said.

The company will move out of its main complex, which it leases, on Camp Road. It will continue to use a second site in Hamburg until it completes an expansion of its planned South Buffalo plant, probably in mid-2007, Zurowski said.

Hamburg Town Supervisor Steven Walters said he was sorry to see Hydro-Air leave Hamburg, but was relieved that the company was staying in Erie County.

Local and state economic development officials said they took seriously the threat of Hydro-Air moving out of state. They assembled an incentive package that includes making the company eligible for up to $1.6 million in Empire Zone benefits. Hydro-Air can apply for brownfield tax credits, as well as a capital grant from Empire State Development worth up to $1.2 million to assist with construction of its plant.

Zurowski said his company had its sights set on a vacant plant in King's Mountain, N.C., west of Charlotte. "My kids were ready to enroll in the schools in North Carolina," he said. "My wife and I were looking at homes."

Michael Licata, senior business development representative for the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, said of the potential move: "From day one, it was a very legitimate concern."

The BNE helped identify incentives and local sites available to Hydro-Air during efforts to keep the company here, he said.

Various elected leaders and economic development organizations were credited with working to keep Hydro-Air in town, including Mayor Byron Brown, Empire State Development, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, the Erie County Industrial Development Agency and the BNE.

Lt. Gov. Mary Donohoe visited the plant Monday to celebrate the expansion.

"I think by all parties working together, we were able to retain this company in Western New York," Brown said in an interview.

Brown said the project could also kick start development of the site where Hydro-Air is moving, off Abby Street near Tifft Street. "The site has tremendous long-term potential."

Tim Doolittle, regional director for Empire State Development, said the size of the incentive package was crucial to retaining Hydro-Air. The project also paves the way for reclaiming brownfields in Buffalo, he said.

"I think it's definitely a positive for the city," Doolittle said.

Higgins credited Hamburg officials with doing everything they could to retain Hydro-Air, and said the process shows the state needs an economic development policy recognizing the unique needs of counties such as Erie.

Higgins said it was fortunate that the City of Buffalo had some other incentives at its disposal to keep Hydro-Air from leaving the region altogether. "There's a very good lesson, and a very good outcome," he said.


http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...16/1061455.asp

[atotaltotalfan2001]

And it only took almost $3 million in incentives to keep them here. sigh.

[steven]

I wonder how much N. Carolina was offering

[Ragin]

I wonder how much N. Carolina was offering

Obviously, not enough .. lol