A manufacturer’s plan to bring up to 1,000 factory jobs to Long Island from China over the next five years has won $10 million in state tax credits, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
The funding will help Orbic Electronics Manufacturing LLC in Hauppauge to open the first of what it hopes will be four factories in Suffolk County.
Work to retrofit 60,000 square feet at 555 Wireless Blvd., also in Hauppauge, for production will cost $30.8 million and is expected to begin soon, executives said this week.
Orbic supplies cellphones, laptops, mobile hot spots and other telecommunications equipment to Verizon and others. Orbic’s customers increasingly want products that are made domestically to avoid a repeat of the shipping backlogs seen during the COVID-19 pandemic with imported goods, and to stand out from their competitors, according to Orbic CEO Mike Narula.
“China has dominated [the telecommunications industry] when it comes to manufacturing and supply chain … We decided to go down a different path in building the Orbic brand and to set ourselves apart from the competition by having ‘Made in USA’ on our products,” he told Newsday in December. “Also, our top customers, like Verizon, are asking us to do this.”
While production work will move to Long Island, Narula said Orbic will continue to rely on engineers in India for research and development activities.
Orbic’s bestselling items are mobile hot spots used in school buses and elsewhere by students doing their homework, cellphones for senior citizens and Chromebook computers for students, he said, adding that he hopes to begin turning out 5 million products per year on Long Island this fall. Orbic, with annual sales of about $100 million, is owned by Narula’s wife, Ashima, an architect, according to records.
The $10 million in tax credits for Orbic is the largest award so far to a Long Island-based business or nonprofit in the statewide Regional Economic Development Councils’ competition for 2023-24. More than 50 entities in Nassau and Suffolk counties have won nearly $25 million in tax credits and grants to date, based on a data analysis by Newsday.
Besides Orbic, the biggest aid amounts are for the new National Offshore Wind Training Center Inc. in Brentwood, $3 million grant; the AR Hicksville apartment building near the Long Island Rail Road Station in downtown Hicksville, $1 million grant, and equipment for transit software developer Clever Devices LLC in Woodbury, $1 million in tax credits.
Companies receive tax credits based on the number of jobs that they create.
Orbic’s plan to shift its production from China to Suffolk “highlights the area’s skilled workforce, business-friendly environment and strategic location and will strengthen Long Island’s position as a hub for advanced manufacturing and technology,” said Linda Armyn, CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit Union and John Nader, president of Farmingdale State College. They lead the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, which recommends local projects for state funding.
Diana O’Brien, head of marketing at Orbic, said work to convert the Wireless Boulevard building into a factory “will commence in the coming weeks as we finalize our design plans and secure the necessary construction permits.”
In addition to the state tax credits, the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency in January gave final approval for $2 million in local tax breaks over 20 years for the Orbic factory. In return, the company has pledged to add more than 500 people to its payroll of 73 in the next two years.
The new jobs will pay, on average, $46,250 per year, according to the application for IDA aid.
In February, Orbic unveiled a 5G-enabled e-bike with artificial intelligence technology to help riders avoid collisions. The electric bicycle also is equipped with cameras for video calls, a touch screen monitor with maps and other information, and an internet hot spot.
“Our ultimate goal is to manufacture the e-bike right here in New York as well,” O’Brien said on Tuesday.
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