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FALCONER – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency is announcing a new owner has been found to take over a vacated manufacturing plant in the Town of Ellicott.
According to the IDA, Arktura is a California based designer and manufacturer of architectural systems. Following a meeting Tuesday morning, the IDA announced that the company is expanding from the west coast to Chautauqua County. The company is in the process of purchasing the 134,858 sq/ft facility located at 1 Precision Way, which was previously home to Acu-Rite/Heidenhain.
“Three architects and former classmates from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Albany – Rob Kilian, Chris Kabatsi, and Kevin Kane – founded Arktura in 2008,” the IDA said in its media release. “They have combined their problem-solving skills, design talent, and competences for using high-tech tools to create custom ceiling tiles, acoustic panels, and façade systems.”
On Tuesday the IDA board unanimously voted in favor of authorizing the execution and delivery of a preliminary agreement with Arktura for real property tax abatements (PILOT), sales and use tax exemptions, and a mortgage recording tax exemption.
Arktura plans to invest $7.3 million to expand its existing Los Angeles-based operations to Chautauqua County. This new plant is projected to facilitate expedited lead times to the U.S. market for its products, provide local services to east coast markets, and increase its overall production capacity. Arktura plans to hire 50 full-time employees during the first three years of operations.
Arktura has also applied for benefits/incentives through New York State Empire State Development (ESD) and Office of Community Renewal (OCR).
“This is a great project for not only Ellicott, but the County as a whole,” said Mark Geise, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development/Chief Executive Officer of the CCIDA. “We have been actively marketing this high-tech, modern facility for several years now, and to have a company of this caliber purchase and renovate it, while creating 50 jobs, is a dream come true. I really need to give a lot of credit to our business development team here at the IDA, especially Linda Burns, for making this a reality.”
Kabatsi said, “We could not be happier to have discovered Chautauqua County and we are thrilled to be working closely with the IDA to get this operation up and running. We will be putting together an industry leading facility filled with the latest machinery. We are excited to be a new addition to a community with such a rich tradition of manufacturing. “
“This is another example of the positive economic progress we are making in Chautauqua County,” said County Executive PJ Wendel. “Too often we only hear the negative news about what’s going on in the County. I want to highlight more of the positive things happening here, and this is a great example of that. Our economic development team was successful in attracting a company poised for growth to locate here from outside of the region to fill a vacant building, while creating a substantial number of good-paying jobs.”
“I have been working very closely with the County and the CCIDA on efforts to attract businesses to locate here and create jobs, and to put legacy buildings back into use,” said Town of Ellicott Supervisor Patrick McLaughlin. “This accomplishes both objectives, which is really good news. I would like to thank Mr. Giese and Mr. Dixon for their hard work in bringing this new venture to fruition.”
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