Fortitech, a global company that manufactures custom nutrient premixes, broke ground on a $4.5 million distribution center at the Schenectady County Airport in Glenville earlier this month after closing on the property on Thursday, July 17.
The 20-acre site, which Fortitech purchased from the county for $1.05 million, will host a 48,000 building and will be part of the county’s new Airport Tech Park.
Fortitech will continue to be headquartered in the Riverside Technology Park off Maxon Road Extension.
Fortitech spokesman Patrick Morris said he expected that construction of the center and seven truck bays would be completed by spring. Morris said the company would employ several energy cost-saving techniques.
The center will include 90 skylights, and electrical sensors will shut off lights when rooms in the new building aren’t occupied, said Morris.
When construction is complete, Morris said, the company expects to add approximately 25 jobs to the area. Those jobs will be spread out between the airport site and the Riverside Tech Park headquarters.
Morris said the company had outgrown its current facility and is happy to keep its business in Schenectady.
`Schenectady has been very good to us,` he said.
The new airport site will allow the company to expand at its own discretion. Morris said plans to add a second building of similar size to the site are in development. According to Morris, the other building could be used for research, development and technical manufacturing of products.
The airport site will be the newest addition to Fortitech’s rapidly expanding global operations. It maintains manufacturing and distribution facilities in Denmark, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico and California.
Fortitech, which was founded in 1986, creates nutrient premixes for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. According to Morris, the company is the only global corporation solely dedicated to creating such premixes, which he said often show up on nutritional labels as `vitamin fortifications.`
Fortitech moved to the city tech park from Rotterdam in 1996, according to Morris.
Fortitech recently added 35,000 square-feet to its more than 100,000 square-foot structure off Maxon Avenue Extension.
The privately held company employs 175 people in Schenectady County and a total of 340 worldwide. In 2007, it had gross sales of $130 million.
Legislators in the county’s Democratic majority said the project brings needed tax dollars to the area.
`This is another great economic development win for Schenectady County and a win for the taxpayers,` said Legislative Chairwoman Susan E. Savage in a written statement. `The expansion of Fortitech and the creation of an exciting new airport tech park will add to our tax base and create more jobs for Schenectady County.“
