At a meeting of its Board of Directors, the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency ap-proved financial assistance related to an 8,100 square foot expansion project for S. Howes Inc. of Silver Creek.
County Executive Greg Edwards expressed his support for the project. “S. Howes has been an anchor business and employer in downtown Silver Creek for over 150 years. Mr. Mertz’s effort to continually innovate manufacturing, while expanding their workforce with well paid jobs, is commendable. We are delighted that he chose to expand in the village,” he said
Originally the manufacturer of grain cleaning equipment, S. Howes has continuously evolved and diversified to meet the equipment needs of plants today, now producing process and filtration equipment for the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, environmental and mineral/metals industries. Still family owned and managed, S. Howes strives to maintain its reputation as a leading supplier and provider of high quality equipment and superior customer service.
The Agency’s Board of Directors approved a PILOT agreement related to the expansion, in accordance with its standard Uniform Tax Exemption Policy whereby property taxes on the improvements will increase gradually over a period of 10 years. Temporary sales tax abatement related to improvements and mortgage recording tax abatement will also be provided to the company.
“The PILOT and tax lease approved by the CCIDA Board of Directors today provides a necessary short-term financial incentive for businesses like S. Howes to take that next step and make additional capital investment that will expand their manufacturing facility, attracting new business to Chautauqua County for the long term,” commented CCIDA Administrative Director/CEO Bill Daly, after the meeting.
The CCIDA worked in collaboration with Empire State Development to develop local and state financial incentives for this project. As a result 21 jobs will be retained and nine new jobs are projected, increasing their workforce by more than 40 percent.
“I am grateful for the County IDA working with S. Howes on this and keeping them as a community partner,” Silver Creek Mayor Kurt Lindstrom added.
OBSERVER Assistant News Editor Nicole Gugino contributed to this report.
