Premier Industries plans to expand its Hauppauge production facility
The maker of baby wipes, diapers and feminine hygiene products received tax help from the Suffolk IDA and plans to add 35 workers to its payroll of 107.
Ouri Neman (right), 59, with his two sons Matt (left), 29, and Mike, 27, at the production facility of their company Premier Care Industries in Hauppauge, Wednesday. Photo Credit: Daniel Brennan
A manufacturer of baby wipes, diapers and feminine hygiene products is growing so fast that it wants to enlarge a Hauppauge building purchased less than two years ago, executives said.
Premier Care Industries Inc. plans to construct a 30,000-square-foot addition to 150 Marcus Blvd., which now is 81,000 square feet. The new space will be used for warehousing and distribution.
The $2.6 million project received $537,100 in tax breaks on Thursday from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency. The deal includes $377,900 off property taxes on the building addition over 10 years, or a 55 percent reduction.
In return, Premier will add 35 people to its payroll of 107 by 2020. Records show employees earn, on average, $37,500 excluding health insurance and retirement benefits.
“We’ve managed to double both our revenue and number of employees” since 2016, said Matthew Neman, Premier’s chief operating officer and son of founder Ouri Neman. “We have been having some healthy, rapid growth.”
The IDA helped the family-owned company purchase 150 Marcus Blvd., awarding in 2016 up to $703,500 in tax breaks over 12 years. The company has already surpassed its commitment to create 40 jobs within two years.
Premier also secured a $3 million loan from the state Job Development Authority to buy the building, which once housed Audiovox, a maker of stereos and other electronics. Matthew Neman said Thursday Premier intends to seek another state loan.
Neman said the company had considered expanding in Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Georgia, which offer far lower operating costs than Long Island.
Neman’s father, Ouri, said Premier is committed to its employees “but compared with other states, you know how much more expensive New York is. To keep our business here we need the help of the state, county and town.”
He started the business more than 20 years ago in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to make and sell feminine maxi pads and liners. In recent years baby wipes and diapers for children and adults were added to the product roster.
By the time Premier opened a U.S. sales and distribution center on Long Island in 2006, the company had outsourced manufacturing to Asia. It resumed production of sanitary wipesin Hauppauge when Ouri Neman’s sons, Matthew and Michael, finished college and joined him in the business.
IDA executive director Anthony J. Catapano said, “Local manufacturers like Premier Care Industries are competing with companies across the globe, and this approval of IDA incentives will allow them to remain competitive.”