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Second Quarter 2000

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Nucor Picks Chemung

After just a few short months of negotiations, Gov. George E. Pataki joined Chemung County officials in welcoming the announcement by NUCOR Corporation that it will build a 525,000-square-foot Vulcraft steel fabrication plant on a 100-acre site in the Town of Chemung. The $50 million facility will create 300 jobs with an average salary of $45,000 per year.

NUCOR, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is the country’s largest producer of steel joists and decking for the construction industry. The Fortune 500 company employs 7,500 individuals nationally. The Chemung plant will be the company’s seventh Vulcraft facility. Other facilities are located in Indiana, Texas, Nebraska, Utah, South Carolina and Alabama.

"NUCOR could have chosen any place in the Northeast," Gov. Pataki said. "I know there were other states offering them enormous incentives. We’ve worked hard to make New York a business-friendly place, and it has paid off."

NUCOR Chairman, David Aycock, noted, "Six years ago, we wouldn’t have looked at New York, because it was overtaxed, and it had a climate from the outside looking in that said, ‘We don’t want you.’ Things have changed dramatically, and we saw the change."

Robert Proia, formerly the manufacturing manager at the Vulcraft plant in Fort Payne, AL, will be general manager of the Chemung facility. He stated, "NUCOR originally wanted a site further east, but expanded its search area." NUCOR looked at six other sites in New York and four in Pennsylvania, before choosing the Chemung site.

George Miner, president of STEG and director of the Chemung County IDA stated, "Winning NUCOR was really a team effort among the county, state, NYSEG, and Norfolk Southern Railroad. Each entity was a critical participant."

STEG and the Chemung County IDA (CCIDA) together contributed $600,000 to subsidize the land costs. Empire State Development provided a Jobs Now grant for $1.4 million. The CCIDA provided a 20-year
property tax abatement, which will still generate more than $30,000 per year in new property tax revenues initially, and grow to more than $300,000 annually at full value. The property’s current annual tax bill is $1,600. Senator Randy Kuhl and Congressman Amo Houghton are securing grant funds for sewer, gas and railroad upgrades.

The City of Elmira, along with the other six Economic Development Zone municipalities, have tentatively agreed to expand the Elmira EDZ to include the Chemung site. This will provide the company with a number of tax credits and utility incentives.

During a public meeting held in May 2000, NUCOR representatives gave an overview of their company, and more specifically, a description of what the facility in Chemung would be producing. Company and public officials addressed concerns over traffic, water, lighting, and noise. Applause erupted when one resident commended the company on their decision to locate in Chemung and welcomed them to the community.

NUCOR plans to break ground early this summer and open the plant in the summer of 2001.

Photo: John Flory (Chairman, Chemung County Legislature), Thomas Tranter (County Executive), Governor George Pataki, H. David Aycock (Chairman, NUCOR), George Miner (President, STEG)

Elmira EDZ Redraws Boundaries

Across New York State, the Economic Development Zone (EDZ) Program has become one of the most effective tools to attract and grow businesses in a community. This holds true for the Elmira EDZ and is evident by the recent announcement by the NUCOR Corporation to build a Vulcraft facility in the Town of Chemung.

Early in the negotiations with NUCOR, it became apparent that the company would not locate in Chemung County unless the site would be located within the EDZ. Up until this point, the EDZ regulations stated that each zone must have contiguous boundaries and could only have three sub-zones. Fortunately for the community, new regulations were being proposed that eliminated the contiguous boundaries for all zones, thus allowing as many sub-zones as needed in a community.

This allowed economic development officials to again look at the boundaries of the Elmira EDZ and not only include the NUCOR site, but other key properties and businesses that previously could not be included. Each municipality in the EDZ will benefit from the change, allowing better utilization of the zone for future growth.

The new regulations are set to take affect this summer. Locally the process has begun and a formal boundary amendment request will be submitted to the state in anticipation of the change.

1999 EDZ Impacts

$68,993,655 investment into the EDZ
1,304 jobs created
455 jobs retained
21 existing businesses certified
8 new businesses brought into the zone

A&P Brought Back to Life

For 18 years, the A&P facility in Horseheads—billed as the largest food processing plant in the world —stood dormant, a symbol of economic failure. Today, the 1.5 million-square-foot industrial facility has become a symbol of the Elmira area’s rejuvenation. Horseheads Industrial Capital, LLC, comprised of financial partners from Cohen Asset Management, and National Industrial Capital, LLC, of Los Angeles, CA, have purchased the facility for $6 million from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company of Montvale, NJ.

Brad Cohen and Jeffrey Stern, the principals behind the purchase, own more than 15 million square feet of industrial property in 15 states. The A&P plant, to be newly named the Horseheads Commerce Center, will be their largest. The Hart Corporation of Philadelphia, PA, brokered the transaction, which has already attracted many prospective tenants. Inherent with the property, Toshiba has leased 300,000 square feet of distribution space for the past five years. Toshiba manufactures cathode ray tubes used in television and computer monitors in an adjacent plant.

The A&P plant was constructed between 1962 and 1965, and is approximately the size of the Pentagon. At its peak, employment reached 2,500. The plant closed in 1982. The community marketed the facility for nearly two decades and brought several suitors to the negotiating table, including Xerox, Nabisco and Carnation Foods. Finally, A&P listed the facility with the Hart Corporation, and agreed to a realistic asking price. Within a few weeks, the facility was under contract.

The community offered a variety of incentives to the developers to facilitate the transaction. The property is located in the Elmira Economic Development Zone, which provides substantial tax credits and utility discounts to future tenants of the facility. STEG, the Chemung County IDA, Town of Horseheads and Empire State Development each contributed to provide a $1 million grant to assist with the improvements to be made to the building, and a 15-year property tax abatement, which will be passed on to tenants in leases.

The new owners will immediately address roof improvements, expansion of the existing 70+ loading docks, maintenance to the three internal rail sidings from the Norfolk Southern Railroad main line, and related improvements.

Interest in the facility has already taken off, with calls coming into the STEG offices daily. Local economic development officials are optimistic that the 150 new jobs specified in the incentive offer will come to pass. Located with its own exit ramp off of the interstate (I-86), the facility has more than 60,000 square feet of open office space and parking for 1,400 vehicles—all of which make it ideal for call center operations. The space also has heavy-duty utilities, lending it to manufacturing, distribution, and a variety of related uses.

Taylor Rises from Artistic Ashes

Artistic Greetings, a company that began operating in Elmira in 1920, had a robust decade in the 1990s, with employment peaking at 700 people. Unfortunately for our community, in 1997, the company sold its personalized check business to MDC Communication Corporation of Toronto – and Elmira lost 400 jobs in the process. Then, in the spring of 1998, Artistic Direct bought the remaining assets, and in the fall of 1999, Taylor Corporation purchased them.

Taylor Corporation is privately held with annual revenues of about $1 billion. Created in 1948, Taylor owns an interest in 75 companies throughout the US, Canada and Europe, and employs more than 10,000 people. Taylor planned to move the purchased production equipment to Colorado and Idaho, eliminating the remaining 300 jobs.

But STEG representatives followed the adage: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." When all appeared lost, they worked with the Chemung County IDA, the City of Elmira and the Empire State Development Corporation to entice the Taylor Corporation to locate a 350-person call center in Elmira.

To cover the costs of training and capital purchases, the City of Elmira agreed to loan Taylor $150,000, STEG and the CCIDA contributed a $50,000 grant, and Empire State Development offered a $400,000 grant. Taylor will continue to lease space at Artistic Plaza in the Elmira EDZ.

In addition, the Taylor representatives expressed a sincere appreciation for Elmira’s workforce, citing its availability, skills and work ethic.

Fibrocrete Builds in Latta Brook

After two years of planning and hard work, construction has begun on a $1 million manufacturing plant in the Latta Brook Industrial Park. The plant, owned by Foster Ltd. and Castle Court Development, is the first of its kind and will manufacture a newly-developed lightweight concrete-based material called Fibrocrete used to make exterior walls for homes and commercial buildings. Fibrocrete is made from concrete and recycled carpet fibers, making it durable and fire-resistant with higher insulation and noise-reduction ratings than conventional building materials. In addition, Fibrocrete buildings cost about one-third to one-half of conventional construction materials.

Economic development officials worked with the company to find the best location and put together an economic development package totaling more than $200,000. STEG worked with Empire State Development and the Regional Economic Development and Energy Corporation (REDEC) to negotiate the package.

Construction of the facility is underway and production should begin in July 2000 with 45 new employees. Product built at the Horseheads facility will be shipped throughout the Northeast. The Horseheads facility will also serve as the Northeast sales and marketing location.