By Dave Lucas
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Kingston, NY – A plan to develop two industrial sites in the City of Kingston is moving forward: The move would result in the retention of 116 existing jobs and creation of 42 new jobs. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
The Kingston City Planning Board has scheduled a hearing for February 13th on plans by the partnership of Stavo Industries and Wolf-Tech Incorporated to redevelop the old Colony Liquors Building. According to plans submitted, the site would be divided into two separate parcels, creating two manufacturing centers, Ulster County Executive Mike Hein says the move is a wise one for the city. Some citizens had feared the site would become a dead-zone which would spread, threatening local economic vitality. Stavo and Wolf-Tech both are Empire-Zone certified and the building location at 132 Flatbush Avenue lies within the Kingston Ulster Empire Zone. Empire State Development Corporation offered Wolf-Tech a capital grant of $350,000 and Stavo a capital grant of $300,000 to maintain operations in New York State.
The Ulster County IDA has offered each company a cash grant of $50,000 as an incentive to remain in Ulster County. Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce President Ward Todd sees the project as another way of stabilizing the County Economy. Utility Central Hudson also stepped in, offering both companies economic development assistance: incentives include building revitalization grants of $100,000 for each company, job creation grants of $1,000 per job for each high-paying job created and $62,500 in infrastructure assistance for the site.
Stavo and Wolf-Tech sell products world-wide: The two companies had both received aggressive offers from other states attempting to entice them to relocate their operations. Wolf-Tech currently has operations in the town of Ulster and in in Georgia and Germany. Again, the public hearing at city hall will be held Monday February 13th at 6pm.