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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Electric Truck Manufacturer to Build $5 Million Factory in NY's Bronx Borough

11/17/2011
Leading electric truck manufacturer Smith Electric Vehicles has announced it plans to open a new $5 million plant in Port Morris, NY, after it renovates a 90,000-sq.-ft. warehouse. The project is expected to create more than 100 jobs over a seven-year period.

The company will receive state and city incentives to help make the Bronx factory a reality, including $3.4 million from the Empire State Development Corp., $1.7 million from the city Industrial Development Agency, and $1.5 million from the state Energy R&D Authority.

Based in Kansas City, MO, Smith selected New York over Washington, D.C., and Atlanta largely due to a new $10 million state incentive program designed to improve air quality and the environment. Under the rules of this developing voucher program modeled after an existing California plan, firms purchasing zero-emission trucks in New York are to receive $20,000 checks from the federal government via the state.

"We needed to know that there was going be local demand for our product," said Smith CEO Bryan Hansel, explaining why NY was chosen for the factory. The Bronx was targeted for the facility due to the fact it's home to the Hunts Point food distribution center, he said. "We want to be where the trucks are. The Bronx is where our customers are located and Manhattan is where a lot of trucks are deployed...We believe the market is ready."

The "green" incentive program will decrease the cost of 500 vehicles every year, added Hansel, and applies to commercial vehicles weighing at least 10,000 pounds.

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