Product display manufacturer Display Technologies is moving from Queens to Lake Success following an agreement with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency in a move Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s office said will bring 61 jobs to Nassau.
The company, which designs, builds and sells displays to supermarkets and convenience stores, will lease headquarters and operations space at 1111 Marcus Ave. The move will generate $64 million in economic activity, create 25 full-time equivalent construction jobs and create an additional four jobs within three years, according to a press release from the county executive’s office.
“These economic development compacts are proof that Nassau County can be competitive with other regions and is able to entice businesses to our county,” said Joseph Kearney, executive director of the Nassau IDA in the release. “These are absolute home runs for the county.”
The IDA is charged with promoting economic development in Nassau, and can offer businesses financing and tax exemptions to encourage them to open locations in the county.
The agency agreed to a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement with Display Technologies, which will in effect lock the business into current tax rates for the next decade.
Display Technologies will pay $117,773 annually for the next 10 years instead of paying increasing property taxes, which are projected to reach $140,750 by the end of the agreement, according to IDA spokesperson Alan Wax.
The business will also receive an exemption on sales tax for its business and capital expenses, said Wax.
The agreement approved by the IDA stated that the tax incentives were necessary to convince Display Technologies to agree to the move, and that the business may have moved out of state without the agreement.
Display Technologies, which sells its products to Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and 7-Eleven, among others, had outgrown its facilities in Queens and was at risk of having its operations consolidated with sister companies in Chicago and Milwaulkee, according to the press release.
The IDA was recently the subject of public scrutiny when it was considering the extension of tax breaks for the Bristal assisted living facilities – an application the agency’s staff dropped in December after weeks of delayed and canceled votes.
Municipal and school officials had voiced opposition to the extension, arguing that it offered the county little benefit while costing millions in tax revenues.
