"Building Yonkers By Building Business Relationships"
|
||
|
"Building Yonkers By Building Business Relationships" |
||
|
|
||||||
|
December 11, 2009 Weapons
manufacturer to get $700,000 grant for Yonkers and Greenburgh expansion
A state agency proposes giving a $700,000 economic development grant to
a weapons manufacturer that recently expanded in Yonkers and Greenburgh.
Kimber Manufacturing wants the grant to pay for a portion of its
acquisition, renovation and equipment costs related to a $10.8 million
expansion completed in September.
The company accepted a grant offer from the Empire State Development
Corp. in 2007 on the premise that it would expand its operations in New
York and create or preserve jobs.
Kimber makes more than 100 types of pistols and rifles for the consumer
market, law enforcement and the Marines Corps, among other clients. The
state agency offered the grant to Kimber because manufacturing is the
most wealth-creating sector of the state economy outside of New York
City, according to the agency's project plan.
The expansion at 16 Harrison Ave. and 1 Lawton St. in Yonkers and 555
Taxter Road in Elmsford raised employment at Kimber to 227 people from
the 185 staffers it had two years ago when the state offered the company
an incentive. Under the grant agreement Kimber's personnel level cannot
fall under 185 people through Jan. 1, 2012.
The Empire State Development Corp. will hold a public hearing on the
grant at 2 p.m. Friday at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Ave. After
the public hearing, the plan will be presented to the Public Authorities
Control Board for a final approval.
Kimber's expansion was controversial in Yonkers because manufacturing
takes place at those properties. The Greenburgh location houses offices.
In 2007 when the company proposed expanding its production from 250 to
400 guns and rifles a day, residents complained of truck traffic and
noise. They also voiced safety concerns because they feared test firing
at the site or possible explosions of ordinance stored there to test the
guns. |
||||||
|
||||||
| Return to News Home | ||||||
| Return to News Home |
