WAYLAND, NY – An expected reduction of jobs in Steuben County may be offset by the outcome of a newly struck deal, and it’s happening thanks to an agreement that involves several major area employers.
Compin Inc., a subsidiary of European company Compin/Fainsa, has announced plans to manufacture passenger seats for the railcar industry within the Gunlocke plant in Wayland, NY. The company is a supply-chain business for Alstom in Hornell that needs additional manufacturing space in Steuben County. The relocation of Gunlocke’s upholstery division left equipment and manufacturing space available for lease by Compin, which hopes to start production in May. Compin plans to make jobs available to the Gunlocke upholstery employees affected by the relocation. Gunlocke will continue to produce office furniture at its plant.
Understanding both the needs of Compin and the upholstery relocation at Gunlocke, Steuben County IDA staff connected the two companies to make use of existing resources.
“We are thrilled that Compin and Gunlocke were able to work together to make use of manufacturing equipment and expertise that was already in Steuben County,” said Jamie Johnson, Executive Director of the Steuben County IDA. “This relationship will make both companies stronger in the long term and provide additional job opportunities to Steuben County residents.”
In the immediate term, the site will be used by Compin to manufacture passenger seating for the next generation Amtrak train cars being developed in Hornell by Alstom. The company subsequently expects to expand its product lines to include other interior components and solutions for a variety of transportation companies.
“The implementation of the COMPIN Inc. plant is a key milestone in the COMPIN FAINSA Corp organic growth,” said Marc Jammot, President & CEO of the COMPIN Group. “Whereas COMPIN FAINSA features a well-developed industrial footprint of five industrial sites in Europe, the launch of the COMPIN US plant will enable our group to meet our long-term strategy in developing its Seats and Interior Systems railways business for the North American continent. We want to take advantage of the skilled American workforce as well as the presence of the assembly plant of main U.S. car builders in New York to strengthen our connections with local partners. We are very proud to settle in Wayland and develop our partnership with Gunlocke. Over the coming months, we will transfer to our U.S. plant our seat know-how that will bring the comfort of European seats to U.S. railway passengers.”
Empire State Development has awarded the company up to $80,000 in Excelsior Tax Credits for the creation of up to 31 new jobs. The project has a total budget of $270,000.