By Staff Reporter
NORTH TONAWANDA — Taylor Devices Inc., the publicly traded North Tonawanda manufacturer known for seismic protection systems and NASA shock-mitigation hardware, is clearing the next hurdle for an $8 million expansion that would turn two underused downtown buildings into aerospace landing-gear production space.
The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency unanimously set a public hearing for Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. at North Tonawanda City Hall. A vote on a proposed $640,687 incentive package is expected Nov. 18, according to reporting by WBEN’s Jim Fink on Oct. 8 and Oct. 14.
Taylor Devices (NASDAQ: TAYD), founded around 1955 and employing about 130 people, plans to buy the vacant buildings at 261-267 Main Street and 34 Thompson Street for $975,000. The company would install six new CNC machines to produce aerospace landing-gear components and add at least five jobs paying $75,000 each.
IDA chairman: ‘a win on several fronts’
Niagara County IDA Chairman Jason Krempa cast the project as support for a company that already calls the city home.
“We are supporting a local manufacturer who continues to expand,” Mr. Krempa said.
He pointed to the reuse of vacant downtown stock as part of the case. “They are taking two under-used buildings and re-positioning them,” Mr. Krempa said. “To me, it checks a lot of boxes. We are helping a homegrown company expand. It is a win on several fronts.”
North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec struck a similar note, tying the expansion to the company’s long presence in the city.
“They have a long history and we’re glad to see them continue to grow here,” Mr. Tylec said.
“The fact that they are maintaining and expanding their roots here says it all,” the mayor added.
From seismic dampers to Artemis
Taylor Devices has built a national profile on energy absorbers and seismic protection systems used in buildings and infrastructure. More recently, the company provided energy absorbers and shock-mitigation hardware for NASA’s Artemis II mission — a credential that sits beside the landing-gear work the North Tonawanda expansion is meant to support.
That mix of aerospace, industrial and civil applications is unusual for a manufacturer of Taylor’s size, and it helps explain why local officials treat the Main Street and Thompson Street purchases as more than a routine industrial move. A homegrown, publicly traded firm adding CNC capacity and five six-figure manufacturing jobs in downtown North Tonawanda is the kind of project industrial development agencies are built to chase.
The Oct. 28 hearing at City Hall is the public’s formal chance to weigh in before the Nov. 18 vote. The incentive package under discussion — $640,687 — sits against an $8 million overall investment and a nearly $1 million real-estate purchase. How the IDA structures any tax abatement or other benefits will be clearer once the board acts.
What to watch
Several questions remain open ahead of the hearing. How quickly can the vacant buildings be brought online for CNC production? Will five new jobs be a floor that grows if aerospace orders expand? And how will neighboring property owners and residents respond to industrial reuse on Main and Thompson?
For now, the agency’s unanimous procedural vote and the mayor’s public welcome signal local alignment. WBEN’s coverage remains the primary contemporaneous account of the board’s action and the officials’ comments.
The Chronicle has requested comment from Taylor Devices’ investor relations and executive offices, Mayor Tylec’s office and the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.
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