Wind powered manufacturer coming to the town

Benjamin Joe |, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
·3 min read

Jan. 13—SIVA Powers America Inducement, a company that manufactures and installs wind turbines, will be moving in to the Town of Lockport's Industrial Development Park at the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Currently, the company has an office in Amherst and wants to start assembling wind turbines in the IDA park, where it will also utilize renewable energy in the form of wind and solar panels to power its yet-to-be built 10,000 square-foot facility.

"The Siva 250/50 kW wind turbines are currently made in India and installed globally," Padma Kasthurirangan, managing partner for SIVA, said. "Our project at the Lockport IDA park is to build a facility to assemble the turbines and make wind turbine blades specifically for the North American market."

Tom Sy, coordinator of Economic Development in the town, said that SIVA serves individuals and companies who wish to power their own facilities by wind-power.

"It's not what people think of wind power, which is often 'wind farms' of 20 turbines on a property. This is for companies that want to augment their electricity with renewable energy" Sy said. "(SIVA) will also be building a tower and use solar on the property, so it's 100% powered by renewable energy."

The Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency held a public hearing for the project on Thursday morning and took action that same meeting, approving a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes of 15 years for SIVA.

"It's a pretty standard 15-year PILOT," Sy said. "One we use often."

SIVA will have to pay only 20% of its property taxes for its first two years, which is $12,670 per year; 30% for another two years, which is $18,150 per year; 40% for another four years, at $24,200 per year and 50% the remaining five years at $31,750 per year. Full taxes without a PILOT come to $63,600 per year.

According to Sy, the company's abatements were also approved, including two years of no sales tax for building materials and a one time mortgage abatement in which three quarters of the 1% mortgage fee will be paid by the Town. Currently the number for the mortgage is unknown, Sy said.

The total cost for the project is projected to be $2.5 million.

According to SIVA's application, 15 full time jobs will be produced within two years after the project's completion, as well as five part time jobs within two years of the project's completion. Salaries for the jobs include management positions at $50,000 a year, professional jobs at $60,000 a year, administrative jobs at $35,000 a year, as well as production jobs also at $35,000 a year.

The project will still have to go before the planning board and the Town of Lockport Town Board, Sy said, but after that he believes construction will follow, eventually bringing the new tenant into the park, "at the end of this year or early in the next."