State announces 18 more START-UP NY businesses, including firms at SUNY-ESF, Canton

A new Syracuse–area wood-products manufacturer and an existing North Country firm providing environmental-consulting services are among 18 additional businesses participating in the START-UP NY program, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

Under the START-UP NY program, companies that participating colleges and universities sponsor and that have plans to create new jobs will operate 100 percent tax-free for 10 years, paying no state income tax, business or corporate state or local taxes, sales tax, property tax, or franchise fees.

The Central New York companies in this announcement will operate in tax-free areas that the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in Syracuse and SUNY Canton are sponsoring.

Eleven of the 18 companies announced today are participating in the tax-free area that the University at Buffalo sponsors, Cuomo’s office said. However, the list also includes one business in Plattsburgh and one in Schenectady.

CNY companies

The new companies include Windsor Wood USA, LLC, a new manufacturer of proprietary wood products.

The business, which will operate under the SUNY-ESF tax-free area, will locate to the Salina Industrial Powerpark, and create 40 net new jobs while investing $2.2 million, Cuomo’s office said.

The company will apply a “black box” process to hardwoods to create a “stronger, more flexible, and virtually unbreakable” wooden material, which customers can use in a variety of manufacturing applications, according to the news release.

They include sports-related products, such as wooden bats, lacrosse sticks, field hockey sticks, along with lifestyle products, architectural millwork products, and auto interiors. 

Adirondack Operations, LLC is an existing environmental consulting-services company that will expand onto the SUNY Canton campus.

The company is currently located in Croghan (Lewis County), where its existing operation will remain, Cuomo’s office said. The firm will expand to the SUNY Canton campus and create six net new jobs while investing $25,400.

The company is certified to conduct building surveys for asbestos, asbestos-abatement design, and provide project monitoring and air-monitoring services.

It also provides lead-paint inspections, building surveys for PCBs, and construction-administration services.

PCB is short for polychlorinated biphenyls, man-made organic chemicals with a “range of toxicity,” according to the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. PCBs, which had been domestically manufactured, were banned in 1979, the EPA said.

Adirondack Operations wants to develop a new division and product offerings focused on the construction industry and hazardous-material tracking.

The firm has plans to develop a new process and tracking system to survey for hazardous materials in buildings prior to construction and renovation.

This latest group of companies joining the program brings the total number of businesses participating in START-UP NY to 73, representing commitments to create more than 2,400 new jobs and invest more than $104 million in communities throughout the state, Cuomo’s office said.

The START-UP NY businesses expanding in or locating to the Empire State will create jobs in several industries, including biotechnology research and development; advanced manufacturing; advanced medical equipment; information technology; and systems and software development.