LYONS — The Wayne County Industrial Development Agency has approved a tax incentive package for Optimax, which is adding a 36,000 square foot addition to its 115,000 square foot space at its Dean Parkway complex near Highway 104 in Ontario.
The company manufactures optical products for the semiconductor, defense and aerospace industries.
The project is expected to create 50 full-time jobs over three years. That’s what company comptroller Tom Starin told the IDA board at its April 27 meeting.
It’s grow or else, the company said in its statement of need.
“Workforce and revenue have more than tripled over the past 10 years, but without significant expansion this growth cannot continue,” the company wrote. “Specifically, over the past two years, the company’s position in the defense and aerospace markets has grown significantly through partnerships and significant internal engineering efforts. Our customers demand that we continue to grow rapidly in order to meet their increasing demands. If we do not continue to meet our customers’ expectations, we risk seeing our revenues decline and possibly having to reduce our workforce.
Or, as Starin told the board, “If we don’t keep growing fast enough, they’ll find someone else.”
IDA eventually agreed to approve a package worth more than $1.5 million, after taking into account agency fees and IDA legal fees. The package includes a 10-year payment-in-lieu-tax agreement that reduces taxable property by just over $1.4 million over 10 years, as well as sales and mortgage tax exemptions worth of $400,000.
“I would just like to say this is great and the expansion is great,” said Scott Johnson, Sodus City Supervisors who chairs the IDA board.
The project is expected to take 12 to 15 months, Starin said.
“It will be entirely a maker space,” he noted.
The project not only creates 50 jobs, but maintains 355 other existing positions.
Empire State Development said it was providing up to $700,000 in tax credits in exchange for Optimax’s commitments to expanding and maintaining jobs.
