Linita Design bringing 100 jobs to Lackawanna: Canadian parts manufacturer seeks to shift all production work to old Bethlehem Steel site

Oct 04, 2009 (The Buffalo News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- BHMSQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A Canadian fabricator of steel parts for hydropower plants is planning to move its manufacturing operations to a vacant building in Lackawanna, bringing as many as 100 jobs to the area.

Linita Design and Manufacturing Corp. of Guelph, Ont., is trying to buy an 80,000-square-foot building at 1951 Hamburg Turnpike to accommodate its growing business. That's on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel complex, making it a natural fit.

Plans call for Linita to keep its headquarters and engineering operations, with all 35 current employees, in Guelph, but to shift all production to Buffalo and create 50 to 100 new manufacturing jobs here within three years.

Positions will include flux-core welders, plate fitters, engineers and supervisors, and will likely pay between $45,000 and $60,000 a year, the company said. Officials hope to begin hiring within a month, and to open shortly after that.

The deal had been slated to close Oct. 1 but was delayed until next week. However, officials still expect it to go through. Linita already has a sales office in the area, at 3725 Walden Ave., Lancaster.

"It's a good win for Lackawanna, and another validation that we're a good spot for Canadian companies," said Thomas Kucharski, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise economic development organization. "It's a good win all the way around."

The 36-year-old company is shifting the operation to Buffalo because it needs a bigger facility to handle the rising demand for its products. It chose Buffalo because of its proximity to Guelph.

"The company is growing, and we are looking to expand," said Carlos Vera, CEO and general manager. "We looked at the United States to expand because our business is increasing in the United States."

The building is currently owned by Gibraltar Industries but is considered surplus property that the Hamburg-based company wanted to dispose of. However, it still contains several very large interior cranes, which Linita considered essential for its business.

"They wanted to move their business here but couldn't find a solution," said David Schiller, a broker at Pyramid Brokerage Co. of Buffalo, who represented Linita in finding the property. "They needed a craned building. We have them here, but it's not easy pickings, particularly for large fabrication businesses."

Local economic development officials and real estate brokers have been working on the deal since early 2008, when the Toronto office of Empire State Development Corp. passed the "lead" to BNE. Since then, officials have been working on finding the right property, as well as working through details related to incentives and various immigration, legal and accounting issues.

The company plans to seek a tax reduction on the property, since taxes are more than $124,000 a year, and will also be applying for Empire Zone benefits.

Founded in 1973, Linita is a custom steel fabricator and installer primarily focused on hydro control products for hydro dams, such as water control gates, hoists and similar equipment.

Its secondary market includes other custom jobs, such as mechanical and hydraulic presses, turbine housing, gear blanks and gear boxes, heat exchangers, crane bridges, trolleys, trash rack cleaners and machine bases.

The company primarily competes in North America with hydropower water control systems. That business is centered in Canada and the United States, but the company recently completed a project in Lima, Peru, pushing its market into South America. It has not done work for the New York Power Authority's Niagara Power Project but has worked on other power plants around the country.

"Their driver was having a "Made in the USA' label, and having access to the U.S. market," Kucharski said. "That's very much in keeping with what we think are the key things that we message and are effective in Southern Ontario and Quebec."

e-mail: jepstein@buffnews.com

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