LI printer to Wall Street firms will expand in Hauppauge, add 30 jobs

A document printer for Wall Street firms, banks, insurers and other businesses in the metropolitan area is planning to consolidate two buildings into one in Hauppauge and to add 30 jobs.

Sterling Digital Print plans to rent, renovate and install new equipment at 70 Corporate Dr. The 75,000-square-foot building is 25% larger than the company’s current space, which is spread over 270 and 370 Oser Ave., also in Hauppauge.

The additional space will allow Sterling to bring work to Suffolk County that’s now being done by subcontractors in Massachusetts and New Jersey, said owner and CEO Ed McAllister.

"Our lack of space and inefficient operations force us to turn down business," he told the county’s Industrial Development Agency last month. "As financial service firms relocate out of New York to New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida, we’ve actively considered relocating as well due to Suffolk County’s property-tax burden. We would much rather stay…but we need your help."

The IDA responded by offering Sterling $768,000 in tax breaks, including a property-tax reduction of $687,800 over 10 years, or a 27.5% savings.

In return, the company will invest $3.8 million in building improvements and new equipment. It also will add 12 jobs to its payroll of 127 in two years and another 18 jobs in the following three to five years. Records show employees earn, on average, $65,800 per year.

McAllister said he started Sterling in 2007 with one employee and a focus on serving Wall Street firms.

Two years ago, Sterling expanded into other markets by purchasing printer Ocean Group in Ronkonkoma for an undisclosed amount. At the time, Ocean had sales of $4 million per year compared with Sterling’s $30 million, according to the New Jersey financial advisers who brought the companies together.

The acquisition gave Sterling additional workers, a mailing operation, more prepress and bindery equipment, and customers outside of the financial services industry.

IDA executive director Anthony J. Catapano said Sterling is among several local companies that have found success serving Wall Street firms. The most prominent is Broadridge Financial Services Inc. in Lake Success, which delivers investor documents to shareholders, tallies proxy votes at annual meetings and processes financial transactions.

The Suffolk and Islip Town IDAs have provided tax incentives to keep Broadridge’s large factories in Edgewood.

Sterling "is an example of how our county, and Long Island, benefits from being on the [doorstep] of the financial capital of the world. It’s important that we support these companies," Catapano said.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.