The City of Lackawanna has added another business to its Gateway Trade Zone along the Lake Erie side of Route 5, with a regional distribution facility for cane sugar for a Florida-based company that is expected to create 21 jobs.
Founded in 2014 and based in Coral Gables, Sucro Sourcing provides sugar for mills, processors, distributors and industrial customers.
The company has operations in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, and the new operation in Lackawanna. The expansion will extend its ability to serve the food industry in Upstate New York.
“Sucro Sourcing has been delighted with the incredible support of the City of Lackawanna, and Gateway Trade Center,” said Sucro Sourcing owner and CEO Jonathan Taylor. “We have moved very quickly, and the City of Lackawanna has been extremely responsive and receptive.”
The Lackawanna trade zone, administered by the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, is part of the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone program, which was created to encourage international trade and make U.S. companies more competitive globally.
The zones are secure areas in or near U.S. Customs ports, where tariffs and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol entry procedures do not apply, although Customs does have an operation there to process cargo.
The Lackawanna zone includes an inland deep water port and easy access to both rail lines and the New York State Thruway for transportation. It’s adjacent to the former Bethlehem Steel property, a 240-acre swath of formerly polluted industrial land that Erie County, the ECIDA, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Lackawanna have worked to redevelop.
The site includes new road infrastructure, utility service, and zoning rules – as well as special tax incentives – to encourage clean manufacturing and distribution facilities.
“Our top economic development priority in Lackawanna is to strengthen and grow the city’s business base,” said Lackawanna Mayor Annette Iafallo. “Gateway Trade Zone offers numerous logistical, operating and resource advantages, particularly for companies with clean manufacturing and distribution operations.”
Posted by The Buffalo News
