Graphic Controls is moving jobs from a closing out-of-state operation into Buffalo, with some help from New York State's Excelsior program.
The company is moving 43 jobs from Vermont to its Exchange Street facility. Operations are expected to be shifted by the end of this month.
"We kind of fell into a lucky situation where we came up with an opportunity to do an internal consolidation," said Graphic Controls vice president Eric Saenger. "That was to move our operation from Vermont, kind of small and not really efficient or effective being so small, and combine it with Buffalo and leverage the outstanding skills and infrastructure for manufacturing here in Buffalo."
The company currently employs 299 people in Buffalo.
New York State's Excelsior program, which is run through Empire State Development, is providing $500,000 in tax incentives. Under the program's rules, those tax breaks won't be delivered until the jobs are created.
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul says Buffalo has built on its legacy industries and the rest of America is taking notice.
"What we offer, that other areas cannot offer, is a highly skilled workforce, for the skills they need," Hochul said. "A lot of areas can't claim that. It's part of our industrial heritage, if you will, in advanced manufacturing. It's part of our DNA."
State Senator Tim Kennedy, like Hochul, noted that it used to be a common tale of jobs leaving Buffalo.
"Now we are seeing an exact opposite. A transformation," Kennedy said. "Now businesses are coming back and great, outstanding businesses like Graphic Controls are setting up roots here and expanding here."