Contract Pharmacal to hire 40 in new expansion

A fast-growing drugmaker expects to hire at least 40 workers through the expansion of one of its six buildings in Hauppauge, officials said this week.

Contract Pharmacal Corp. wants to enlarge a mezzanine area inside 135 Adams Ave. to accommodate production equipment. The $2.5-million project will start in the fall.

The company, founded in 1971, makes generic over-the-counter drugs, vitamins and dietary supplements for pharmaceutical giants and retailers. It is owned by the Wolf family.

The project is Contract Pharmacal's third expansion in five years.

In 2011 it announced up to $6 million in improvements to three buildings in the Hauppauge Industrial Park after spending $25 million over three years to open another factory.

Contract Pharmacal is among a dozen local drugmakers who have embarked on expansions since 2010. The projects total $390 million in building purchases, factory additions and new equipment. Most are in Suffolk County.

This boom will create more than 2,000 pharmaceutical jobs.

SEE PHOTOSSee who got hired, promoted on LI

Since 2011, Contract Pharmacal has added 275 jobs, bringing its workforce to 900. Wages, on average, total $33,333 per year, records show.

Robyn Wolf-Eagle, the company's chief administrative officer, said its "facilities are operating at their absolute maximum . . . due to large pharmaceutical contracts recently added."

Suffolk County and New York State provided millions of dollars in tax breaks and grants to keep Contract Pharmacal here two years ago, after executives said they were considering a move to Florida.

This week, the county's Industrial Development Agency offered $558,859 in tax breaks for the drugmaker's latest expansion. Most of the savings will come from a five-year extension of a freeze on property taxes for 135 Adams Ave. that was supposed to last for 15 years.

Garrett L. Gray, an attorney for Contract Pharmacal, said the company "expects to continue to grow and is looking for additional properties and people."

Citing its expanding payroll, IDA executive director Anthony Manetta said Contract Pharmacal has "far exceeded" the employment promises it made in return for past government aid.