Company to open facility in Phoenix
LYONS FALLS — Otis Technology Inc. has announced plans to open a research and development facility in southern Oswego County.
The gun-cleaning-kit manufacturer by early next year intends to create a new product development group at a site in Phoenix, a company release states. Restructuring of the 20,000-square-foot building there is to be completed by the end of March.
The move is expected to create more than a dozen jobs within the next couple of years, the release states.
Otis officials plan to hire new workers at the Phoenix facility, not move any staff from its Laura Street headquarters and manufacturing facility, according to Marketing Coordinator Cara E. Peebles.
The company employs about 150 people here.
Opening a facility in the Syracuse area will provide the company with a larger market for staffing and growth and greater proximity to technical resources and some current vendors, Ms. Peebles said. "And it's still close to home," she said.
Ms. Peebles wasn't certain of the building's previous use.
"We are very excited about the Phoenix project," company President and Chief Executive Officer Doreen A. Garrett said in a statement. "This investment in the growth of Otis means continued growth and improved job security for all."
The company plans to develop some manufacturing capacity at the Phoenix site as needed to support its strategic objectives, the release states.
"Lewis County has been the home of Otis for almost 25 years," it adds.
"Branching into surrounding counties allows Otis to utilize technical resources without pulling from existing operational resources."
Otis Technology was recognized in December by the Central New York Business Journal as Central New York's fastest-growing company.
The company in late 2008 completed a 23,643-square-foot addition to its 41,500-square-foot manufacturing facility on Laura Street.
It included a 16,000-square-foot warehouse that features a 50-foot-high ceiling and houses an automatic warehousing system.
Mrs. Garrett started the business in 1985 at her parents' home in the town of Leyden.
