Yonkers gunmaker expands
Gunmaker Kimber Manufacturing Inc. plans to expand to a third location in Yonkers at a cost of $1.7 million.
The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency recently agreed to negotiate an incentives package for the long-time Lawton Street manufacturer that would include sales and use-tax exemptions valued at about $44,800 for the expansion project and a property tax abatement agreement.
Headquartered in Elmsford, Kimber manufactures sporting rifles and pistols for police, military and competitive uses at two Yonkers facilities. It plans to open a third at 1120 Saw Mill River Road and eventually double its manufacturing capacity, according to IDA officials.
The expansion is expected to create 30 construction jobs and add 82 permanent jobs to the firearms manufacturer”™s operations, which currently employ 395 full-time workers at an average yearly salary of $47,000.
Kimber Manufacturing in 2009 was awarded a $700,000 state economic development grant to assist the company”™s approximately $10.8-million expansion at another Yonkers location. The company that year paid $4 million for a 50,000-square-foot building at 16 Harrison Ave. that it formerly leased.
Cuomo calls for I-287 review
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has called on a national construction expert to lead an independent review of the costly and long-running improvements project on the I-287 Cross Westchester Expressway.
Cuomo on June 8 said Peter M. Lehrer, chairman of Lehrer L.L.C., a leading New York City construction consultant, will work on the project pro bono, with other experts to be retained as needed.
In 1994, the I-287 project”™s original planned cost was $350 million. It was expected to be completed by 2010. The project later was divided into a series of six contracts, totaling more than $540 million, that were bid from 1996 to 2010. Additional costs have mounted to $70 million and the project is not yet finished.
“It is long past time to get the I-287 project back on track,” Cuomo said. “I have ordered this independent review to bring accountability and transparency to this project and to protect taxpayer resources.”
Ballan tapped for MTA board
In other news, Scarsdale resident Jonathan A. Ballan has been appointed by Gov. Cuomo to a six-year term on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
Ballan is a member of the New York City law firm of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C. and heads its New York public finance practice group. His public service includes terms as chairman of the city Municipal Assistance Corp., chairman of the state Public Asset Fund and capital committee chairman of the city Health and Hospitals Corp.