Instrument maker Mark-10 plans move to Hauppauge in expansion

Mark-10 Corp. — whose devices help manufacturers gauge everything from the strength of a suture to the force needed to open a bag of chips — plans to more than double its square footage in moving to Hauppauge.

The company, now in a 12,000-square-foot facility at 11 Dixon Ave., Copiague, won preliminary approval for $566,053 in tax breaks Wednesday from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency related to the move.

The sales tax, property tax and mortgage recording tax abatements would be spread over 12 years.

The 42-year-old, family-owned company plans to spend $9.5 million to buy and renovate a 31,000-square-foot building at 160 Oser Ave. for use in manufacturing and executive offices.

Mark-10 agreed to increase its 50-person workforce by 10% over two years as part of the deal.

The company expects to close on the Oser Avenue acquisition in October and begin an estimated six months of renovation as soon as possible, according to its IDA application.

IDA executive director Anthony J. Catapano said Mark-10 boosts the local economy by using parts suppliers in the region and keeping as much work as possible in-house.

"They try to source as much as they can locally," he said. "They even have a photography studio where they take pictures of their products."

If it was unable to gain financial concessions, Mark-10 said it would be forced to consider relocating to Florida or elsewhere.

Attorney Daniel P. Deegan of Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP represented Mark-10 at the Suffolk IDA hearing.

He said that the company, which designs and manufactures the more than 200 products in its catalog, faces competitors whose tax, personnel and real estate costs are lower.

The company's average salary, including management, is $93,307.

Deegan said that employees are provided health insurance with no employee contribution, a highly unusual perquisite in today's marketplace.

The company continued growing even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deegan said, and he characterized the estimate of five additional jobs as "conservative."

The company, co-owned by William and Vera Fridman, was founded as an engineering consultancy. It branched into contract manufacturing in the 1980s.

Mark-10's products measure force and torque and are used in the automotive, medical device, textile, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, packaging and food industries.

At the hearing, William Fridman pointed to a water bottle as an example of a product whose manufacturer uses the type of instruments made by Mark-10 to measure the amount of torque required to remove the plastic cap.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.