State grant keeps Nassau company on LI

The state has given about $490,000 to a chemicals supplier to keep its headquarters in Nassau County instead of moving to Pennsylvania.

The Empire State Development Corp. board of directors this week approved the grant, which helped Aceto Corp. purchase and renovate an office building in Port Washington. In return, the company promised to preserve 80 jobs through early 2016. The board gives final approval to grants after projects are completed.

Aceto, a publicly traded company, had considered moving out of state after deciding it wanted to own, rather than rent, its offices, said Andrea Lohneiss, the development corporation's Long Island director.

The chemicals distributor was based in Lake Success until April, when it moved to Port Washington.

The deal is the second involving a public company agreeing to stay on Long Island in the wake of Arrow Electronics' Oct. 11 announcement that its headquarters will shift from Melville to Colorado next month.

Aceto purchased its new home in February 2010 for $3.5 million and then spent $4.3 million on a new roof, heating and cooling systems, plumbing and electrical systems, Lohneiss said. The company plans to lease 30 percent of the 48,000-square-foot structure to another business.

Aceto officials were unavailable for comment on Friday. The company, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq exchange, reported profits of $9 million for the fiscal year ended in June on sales of $412 million.

Earlier this month the company hired investor Salvatore Guccione to be president and chief operating officer, effective Dec. 1. He succeeds Vince Miata, who has worked for Aceto for 33 years.

Guccione joined the company's board of directors in May while an executive at the investment firm Arsenal Capital Partners.

Separately this week, the development corporation approved grants for local groups to help small businesses that are owned by either women or minorities.

The Community Development Corp. of Long Island Inc. received $120,000 for one-on-one and group training of entrepreneurs, including recipients of its loans.

La Fuerza Unida Inc., which helps Hispanics in and around Glen Cove, got $50,000. The money will be used to make five loans and to provide counseling for business owners.

Aceto Corp. at a glance

Business: distributor of pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals, much of it produced in China and India

Sales: $412 million for fiscal year ended June 30

Profits: $9 million for fiscal year ended June 30

Employees: 238 including 89 at Port Washington HQ

Offices: in New Jersey, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands and Singapore

Stock: traded on Nasdaq exchange under ACET symbol

History: Founded in 1947

Source: Aceto annual report; Empire State Development Corp.