Xpedx moving from Cheektowaga to Depew with Lancaster IDA aid

Xpedx plans to move from Cheektowaga into a vacant 122,000-square-foot building in a Depew industrial park and bolster its employment, said Paul R. Leone, a consultant for the Lancaster Industrial Development Agency.

The company, a supplier of packaging products, facility maintenance products and printing supplies, employs 32 people at 75 Allied Drive in Cheektowaga, where it leases a 48,000-square-foot facility.

Xpedx plans to invest $1.3 million to renovate the building at 3344 Walden Ave. in the Walden Business Center, east of Transit Road. The building is about 90 percent warehouse space, according to the Lancaster IDA.
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Leone said Xpedx plans to have 43 full-time and two part-time employees when the move is complete, but Janell Smith, an Xpedx spokeswoman, projected a lower new-jobs figure. Smith said the company expects to add a total of 10 to 15 jobs at its locations in Depew and Syracuse, but could not pinpoint the number of new jobs at each site. The company is expanding its Syracuse facility.
So why does Mr. Leone's figure differ than Janell Smiths new-jobs figure?

The Lancaster IDA is preparing a package of tax breaks that includes a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, or PILOT, and mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions. Officials could not provide the total value of the tax-break package for the project, which will be the subject of a public hearing at Tuesday’s Lancaster IDA meeting.
So how much of a cut will the Lancaster IDA receive from this project by giving away the breaks? Why can't the "officials" provide the total value of breaks? They need that to figure out what the cut is for the Lancaster IDA. Right?


The practice of granting tax breaks to a company moving from one community to another within the same county has generated controversy in the past. In this case, Xpedx is moving from Cheektowaga to the portion of Depew within the Town of Lancaster.

Leone said Xpedx officials looked for new space in Cheektowaga but did not find anything suitable for the company’s expansion. He said that company and Lancaster officials have kept Cheektowaga leaders informed about the potential Xpedx move and that, so far, they haven’t raised any strong objections.
Course not.