A.K. Allen Co. sold to Ohio firm; most jobs to move out of state

A 72-year-old Mineola manufacturing company and its two subsidiaries have been sold, and their new parent will move most of the 69 jobs out of state, the company said Friday.

A.K. Allen Co. and its subsidiaries, Allen Avionics Inc. and Allenair Corp., which share a facility in Mineola, were sold to Ohio-based Alkon Corp. The price wasn’t disclosed.

A.K. Allen decided to sell because of the higher cost of manufacturing here and competition from cheaper imports, said Steve Santoriello, Allenair sales manager.

The parent company will move all the jobs, except two or three sales positions, to facilities in Ohio and Illinois, Santoriello said.

Allenair earlier detailed some of the layoff plans in a regulatory filing that was posted on the state Labor Department’s website two weeks ago. At the time, the company didn’t respond to requests for comment. But on Friday it provided more details.

The company offered transfers to most of the employees, but only about a half dozen accepted, Santoriello said. A small sales staff will remain on the Island for at least three years, he said.

The state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing says that the layoffs will begin June 21 and end Sept. 19. Under the WARN Act, companies with at least 50 full-time employees have to provide 90 days’ notice in advance of a mass layoff or closing in New York.

The sale represents the end of a long-running history on Long Island. The late Alton K. Allen founded all three companies, beginning in 1945 with A.K. Allen, which makes electronic components, Santoriello said. That was followed by Allenair, which he founded in Brooklyn in 1947 and moved to Mineola in 1953. That company makes air and hydraulic cylinders, valves and pumps. He founded Allen Avionics, which makes filters and other products for electronic equipment, in 1960.

“My family is heartbroken about seeing the end of an era where multiple generations of families have been employed by the Allen Cos. and have worked side by side producing quality products proudly made in the USA,” wrote Cammi Buttner Clara, the daughter of Allenair’s president, Ronald Buttner, in a Facebook post.