Tessy Plastics Corp. is going forward with a $31 million expansion near Baldwinsville, thanks to $13.5 million in aid from the state.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that the state will give Tessy a $10 million grant and $3.5 million in tax credits to expand its plant on State Fair Boulevard in Van Buren instead of building a new facility in South Carolina.

Hochul said South Carolina officials made the company a generous offer that included free land and help with building a new facility for the manufacture of underarm deodorant containers, a big part of Tessy's business.

"This day almost did not occur," she said, standing next to the 250,000-square-foot addition under construction at Tessy. "Tessy was heavily courted by South Carolina."

Earlier this year, Tessy, a manufacturer of plastic components for medical devices and consumer products, said it wanted to expand in Van Buren but needed state economic development incentives to offset the cost of shipping 3,000 truckloads of deodorant containers each year to the Carolinas, where its customers make the deodorant that goes into the containers.

Tessy President Roland Beck declined to provide specifics on the incentives offered to his company in South Carolina. However, he said they were even greater than those offered by New York. He said he decided to do the expansion in Van Buren because of the state's help, as well as a desire to maintain the company's long-term relationships with suppliers and contractors in New York.

Tessy employs about 1,000 people at its main manufacturing complex in Elbridge, its plant in Van Buren, and its headquarters and factory in Skaneateles. About 50 of them have been hired to staff the expansion, which should be completed in March, Beck said. An additional 50 people will be hired for the expansion, bringing the company's local employment to about 1,050, he said.

Attending the announcement Wednesday with Beck was his father, Henry, 81, who founded Tessy in 1973.

 

Source : syracuse.com

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