Queens-based Boundary Fence & Railing Systems makes fences - all types of fences.
(My fave? I'll go with the Remote Controlled PowerBollards.)
Company officials say their vinyl fence division in particular is booming. Boundary's Chris Sibeni says the company was "maxed out for space" in New York City and needed to expand - preferably within state.
On Monday, Sibeni and local officials announced that a new branch of the company - Boundary Fence of Rochester - is setting up shop in the Rochester suburb of Gates.
"Geographically, Rochester is the greatest place for us," says Sibeni.
"My eyes lit up"
Sibeni says the move makes perfect sense for the company: Not only is Gates closer to many of Boundary's customers, but the building they're taking over is already outfitted with many key assets for pumping out vinyl fencing.
"This is a monstrous facility," says Sibeni. "I am so, so glad to call this home."
The factory space, which had been vacant for the last two years, formerly housed Alliance Precision Plastics, according to building owner Larry Glazer.
Because of the previous tenant, the facility already had the heavy-duty electrical system that Boundary needed.
"When we walked into the building here my eyes lit up," says Sibeni, the president and owner of the new subsidiary. "It has a lot of extrusion infrastructure already in place."
When asked what the deciding factor for Boundary's expansion into Rochester was, Sibeni added:
"It was this building - and I particularly like Rochester. We also looked at facilities in Buffalo and I really wasn't pleased with what I saw in the community."
Connecting the dots
Boundary's $1.6 million expansion comes with taxpayer help. The company is on the hook for 74 new jobs as a condition of receiving $300,000 in Excelsior tax credits from the state.
Ken Adams, the CEO of Empire State Development, is the guy in charge of those credits. He was at Monday's announcement to highlight what he says is a good example of "connecting the dots" within New York state.
"Here you had a vacant building that had been used for plastics molding in a prior life," said Adams. "And you had a company down in New York City desperately looking to expand. They made the connection here."
Adams says the governor's new regional economic development councils should facilitate similar intra-state connections going forward.
By the numbers
Boundary Fence says four new production lines will be up and running by the end of the year. Initially the company expects to employ about 35 new workers. The company says the average salary will be approximately $40,000 a year, with benefits.
