Suffolk IDA offers $1.5M in tax breaks to proposed $6.3M project
Seal Dynamics on Prime Place in Hauppauge, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. Credit: James Carbone
Suffolk County made a bid Thursday to keep a distributor of aircraft parts from moving its headquarters to Florida from Hauppauge.
Seal Dynamics LLC, which has 76 employees locally, needs more space, having outgrown its office and warehouse at 600 Prime Place, executives said.
The distributor of replacement parts for military and civilian airplanes is proposing to construct a 51,000-square-foot building at 2 Adams Ave., also in Hauppauge.
The $6.3 million project would be done in conjunction with the Wolkoff family, developers of the Heartland industrial park in Edgewood.
However, George Congionti, senior vice president of operations at Seal, said the company could also expand in Florida, either at a product development center in Tampa or at one of several facilities operated by parent Heico Corp., a public company in Hollywood, Florida.
“We are currently out of office space and are exploring our options,” he told Thursday’s meeting of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency. Tax incentives from the county and state “would be an important factor in keeping the business in New York as opposed to moving it to Florida . . . If we do not receive these incentives, there is very likely a chance that our management team, including myself, will move the business from here.”
The IDA approved a $1.5 million incentive package, including a $1.1 million reduction in property taxes, or 48 percent, over 15 years.
IDA vice chairman Grant Hendricks said local governments will receive more than $1.2 million in tax payments from Seal in the period, far more than if the land remained vacant.
In return for the tax breaks, Seal has promised to add seven jobs to its payroll by 2021.
The company also is seeking help from PSEG Long Island and Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency. ESD spokeswoman Amy Varghese said the agency is working “to ensure they remain a vital presence on Long Island.”
Seal was begun on Long Island by Arthur Susser in 1976, initially supplying seals and gaskets to aircraft manufacturers in the tristate area. Since CEO David Susser joined his father at the company in 1987, it has expanded beyond the United States, opening sales offices in England, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Seal rents its current facility and would do so with the proposed facility.
The Islip Town IDA provided tax breaks for Seal’s current operation that will expire soon.
Records show that employees earn, on average, $59,340 per year, excluding medical and retirement benefits.
Citing the salaries of Seal workers, Suffolk IDA chief Anthony J. Catapano said, “these are the types of jobs that we want to keep on Long Island. . . . Because the company has a facility in Tampa, they are a flight risk.”
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.
