| “The red-carpet treatment offered by STEG and the fact that this area has a well-trained workforce attracted us to Chemung County. We can find people who know what we are talking about and hire people who can hit the ground running. Since 2001, our company has grown in Chemung County from 12 to 190 employees and we anticipate hiring another 100 to 150 now that we’ve moved to our new manufacturing facility in Airport Corporate Park.”
Ron Lerner Plant Manager, Synthes USA |
Requirements
A management-level employee within SYNTHES, a leading global medical device company, knew that the Elmira area had a strong history of manufacturing and an Empire Zone, making it a location worthy of consideration for the company’s new orthopedic implant manufacturing facility. After exploring communities as far south as Birmingham, Alabama and west to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company’s site team took a closer look at our region.
Results
The site team contacted STEG after seeing our phone number on a “For Sale” sign during a chance visit to Airport Corporate Park in Chemung County. In no time, we were on the job, searching for a temporary location where SYNTHES could launch a start-up operation and formally test the labor market prior to building a new manufacturing facility. After identifying a recently vacated building that was suitable, we negotiated a rate for SYNTHES.
Eighteen months later and pleased with the workforce, the company decided to move forward with its plans to build a $14 million facility, which would mean 300 new jobs for the region. Through much hard work, STEG was able to deliver everything that SYNTHES needed for its new manufacturing facility to succeed.
Working with county officials, STEG secured a 30-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport, within the Elmira Empire Zone. They also secured a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to extend sewers to the facility and another from the New York State Department of Transportation to build a road to the site.
As a new business in New York state, the company now operates virtually free of state income and sales taxes and local property taxes, thanks to its location in the Elmira Empire Zone.
