British based Techfibers Inc. is establishing its U.S. based headquarters in Rotterdam, which includes an initial $3 million investment with plans for expansion.
Schenectady County officials announced on Tuesday, Feb. 14, Techfibers signed a 10-year lease to locate at 679 Mariaville Road in Rotterdam near the interchange of I-88 and I-90 in the Burdeck Street Business Corridor. The 52,000-square-foot building will serve as Techfibers new consolidated stateside headquarters, product development center and manufacturing facility. The new facility is also expected to create more than 30 new jobs.
The lease agreement also includes an additional 5-year option and an opportunity to purchase the building. Techfibers Inc is owned by England based James Cropper PLC, one of the largest specialty paper manufacturers.
Judith Dagostino, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature, touted the investment as another success for the county’s economic development team to attract new businesses.
“They are an international company that could have located this facility anywhere in North America,” Dagostino said in a prepared statement.
The former VStream building Techfibers will occupy has been vacant since 2007. Feuz Manufacturing had sold the property to VStream in 2005 for around $1.7 million.
The Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority is providing a $100,000 grant toward project costs. The company has begun building renovation and is expected to begin operations soon.
The Rotterdam facility will house manufacturing operations currently based in Cincinnati, Ohio and Stratford, Conn, which will relocate to the Rotterdam site over the next 18 months, according to county officials. Also, its Newburgh facility will be closing down.
The facility will produce metal-coated carbon fiber products, which is used in automotive, rail, aerospace, marine, electronics, defense, civil engineering, industrial and renewable energy markets.
Ray Gillen, chair of Metroplex, said the county worked hard to attracted the company to the local site. The company considered sites in Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, along with other states.
“When we learned that this company was considering sites at a number of northeastern and midwestern states, we worked very hard to show them why Schenectady County was the top choice,” Gillen said in a statement. “With this announcement today we achieve another strategic goal for Rotterdam by bringing a solid manufacturing company into the former VStream building.”
George Quayle, director at James Cropper PLC, said he was impressed with the county’s business friendly environment and the state’s commitment to building a technology center. The sites ability for the company to expand, said Quayle, was a strong factor to picking the location.
“We believe that the region’s technology base, both industrial and educational, provide possible business synergies as well as a population to draw talent from,” Quayle said in a statement. “Further, the Upstate New York region is also known for its papermaking companies and these skills will be very useful when the time comes for us to setup and run our technical paper line.
Rotterdam Supervisor Harry Buffardi praised the project as an economic booster for the town.
“This project means new jobs and new investment in Rotterdam,” Buffardi said.