Autronic Plastics wins more than $1 million in tax breaks for factory upgrade in Central Islip

A plastics manufacturer on Thursday was awarded more than $1 million in tax breaks over 10 years to support improvements to its factory in Central Islip and the addition of at least 11 employees to its payroll.

Autronic Plastics Inc. requested assistance from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency last month, saying the owners want to expand in the county instead of out of state but need help to do so.

Autronic plans to purchase new machinery, construct a special room for producing medical syringe protectors and make modifications to handle more shipments to its building on Motor Parkway, said Danny Lax, CEO and majority owner.

The improvements, projected to cost $3.5 million, are required to fill contracts for air panels in warehouses and gutter guards to keep out leaves, he said.

"We need to reconfigure our production space and purchase equipment to fulfill the new orders," Lax told Newsday last month.

The tax incentive package was approved unanimously at Thursday’s IDA board meeting in Hauppauge.

The package consists of a sales-tax exemption of up to $20,125 on the purchase of equipment and construction materials plus $1.09 million off property taxes over a decade, or a 27.5% savings.

In return, Autronic has promised to increase its workforce of 117 by at least 11 positions over the next two years. The new jobs will pay between $44,000 and $49,800 per year, on average, according to the application for IDA assistance.

Without the tax aid, Lax had said, the 72-year-old company would’ve moved forward with plans to open a second plant in Texas or Tennessee to be closer to customers and where taxes and employee wages are lower. The Central Islip plant would have stayed open but not expanded, he said.

This is the second time that the IDA has helped Autronic.

In 2013, the company moved operations from New Cassel and North Carolina to Central Islip after receiving IDA tax breaks along with tax credits and low-cost electricity from New York State.

Under the proposal adopted on Thursday, the property tax savings that Autronic won previously will be cut short by one year and replaced with the new 10-year plan. The company has saved more than $1.1 million in property taxes under the old plan, according to state records.

Autronic has exceeded the 95 jobs that it promised to create in return for the earlier aid, said Kelly Murphy, the IDA’s CEO and executive director.

"This is a family owned business and a member of the county’s manufacturing sector, which we want to support," she said in an interview.

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.