Premier Care plans $8 million expansion; wins tax breaks

A manufacturer of baby wipes, diapers and feminine hygiene products is planning an $8 million expansion in Hauppauge that will create at least 20 jobs by 2018, officials said.

Premier Care Industries Inc. wants to purchase 150 Marcus Blvd. for use as an office, warehouse and factory as part of a plan to consolidate four facilities into two. The family-owned business has been renting all four buildings.

Premier president Ouri Neman said the plan would add 2,000 square feet of space and, more importantly, boost efficiency, allowing the company to remain on Long Island.

Last week, the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency awarded Premier up to $590,000 in tax breaks, including $512,364 off property taxes, or a 27.5 percent savings over 10 years.

Neman said without the tax incentives the company would have to move to Pennsylvania or New Jersey, both of which made offers.

“But we have decided to stay because we live on Long Island and I have many workers who live here and they depend on us,” he told the IDA’s board of directors.

Premier has a workforce of 61 people, 60 of them in Suffolk. Another 30 people work in temporary jobs at the company.

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Records show permanent employees earn, on average, $32,700, excluding medical and retirement benefits.

The expansion project will add 20 permanent jobs within two years and increase annual sales by $4 million, according to Premier’s application for tax breaks.

Neman started the company nearly 20 years ago in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to make and sell feminine maxi pads and liners under the Bodyform and Sanitex brand names and store brands. In 2003, Flush-a-Way biodegradable panty liners and sanitary napkins were introduced.

In recent years baby wipes and diapers for children and adults have been added to the product roster.

By the time Premier opened a U.S. sales and distribution center on Long Island in 2006, the company had outsourced manufacturing to Asia. It resumed production activity in Hauppauge when Neman’s sons, Matthew and Michael, finished college and joined him in the business.

“The growth has been high since 2011, and we need more space,” Ouri Neman said. “My hope is that we will double the number of employees in one to two years.”