Marchon eyes IDA aid to stay, expand on LI
The addition of 25 jobs to a workforce of 528 and the relocation to office space at 201 Old Country Rd. in Melville, seen above, could be in the making for Marchon Eyeware Inc. Credit: John Dunn
Marchon Eyewear Inc. plans to reorganize its office and warehouses in Melville and to open a laboratory for making lenses and filling prescriptions, officials said Thursday.
The lab would add 25 jobs to a workforce of 528, leading Suffolk County Thursday to give preliminary approval for a sales-tax break of $600,000 on construction materials and equipment for the project.The maker and distributor of fashion eyeglasses, sunglasses and 3-D glasses hopes to move into rented offices at 201 Old Country Rd. That's about three miles north of the current headquarters at 265 Spagnoli Rd., also in Melville.
Marchon also will upgrade buildings at 35 and 50 Hub Dr. that were purchased in January by its parent, VSP. Both will be used as warehouses and 35 Hub Dr. will be home to an ophthalmologic lab for lens making.
Cost of the reorganization is $27.5 million, including $16.8 million in rent.
The county's Industrial Development Agency acted Thursday in part because Marchon is considering whether to locate the lab here or elsewhere.
Thomas Stringer, a consultant to Marchon, said the lab could be located in Columbus, Ohio, and Sacramento, Calif. He added work done in Melville could be moved to China and Montreal.
"They are looking for a level of certainty," Stringer told the IDA, referring to a request for freezing property taxes for several years.
Citing the move from New York State by another Long Island eyewear business, IDA vice chairman David Rosenberg said Marchon's threatened departure was credible. "Knowing what Luxottica has done, it makes sense to try to keep [Marchon] here," he said.
Last year, Luxottica Group closed a Port Washington warehouse, moving the work to Atlanta and California. About 136 jobs were eliminated out of a total of 428. However, the company will keep its continental office here.
The IDA promised to consider Marchon's request for property tax relief but noted the savings would be small.
Marchon operations director Rick Tower praised the IDA's action, saying it had been "very proactive in partnering with us to retain our international headquarters here on Long Island. We continue to work with both Suffolk County and Empire State Development Corp. as we assess future global expansion plans," he said. Marchon is seeking tax credits and a grant from the state as well.
Separately Thursday, the IDA gave preliminary approval for a $750,000 sales-tax break to OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The developer of the lung-cancer drug Tarceva is expanding from one to two buildings at Farmingdale State College, preserving 113 jobs and creating 24.
IDA chairman Jim Morgo recalled that OSI's former owners announced plans in 2009 to leave Long Island, where the company got its start more than 25 years ago at Cold Spring Harbor Lab. However, the plans were partially reversed after OSI was purchased by Astellas Pharma of Japan.
The state also is backing OSI's $20-million expansion.
"Psychologically, keeping OSI here is very important, especially after people were so upset when the company said it would leave," Morgo said.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
