A private Canadian company based just across the border near St. Catharines is setting up shop on Buffalo's East Side. The expansion project will help create jobs and keep the doors open at a manufacturing facility that was about to close.
Businessman Tony Van Es has purchased a troubled manufacturer at 50 Wecker Street just off Bailey near Delevan. He is renovating the facility, buying new equipment and planning to add as many 60 employees over the next few years.
Van Es says they will be good-paying jobs.
Buffalo OutFront Metalworks is part of Van Es's expansion plan into the U.S. The company makes portable garden centers used by more than 500 retailers across North America.
The company is getting up to $450,000 in tax credits from Empire State Development Corporation. Its Regional President Sam Hoyt also chairs the Authority running the Peace Bridge. Hoyt says the goal is to make the bridge more efficient and welcoming to Canadian businesses.
The Erie County Industrial Development Agency is providing $61,000 in sales tax abatements to the company, which is expected to have an annual payroll of more than $2 million.