New York manufacturer targets city for HQ move

Opflex Technologies LLC, a manufacturer of specialty foam products, is in discussions with city officials to move its headquarters from St. Johnsville, New York, to the northeast side of Indianapolis.

The Department of Metropolitan Development said Monday that Oplex wants to lease 50,000 square feet in the Western Select industrial complex at 2525 N. Shadeland Ave., where it would employ 47 workers by the end of 2019. The positions would pay an average wage of $22 per hour.

Opflex said it would spend $500,000 on real estate improvements and $1.5 million on manufacturing equipment for the facility.

The company is seeking a partial six-year personal property tax abatement from the city to help it pay for the equipment. The abatement would save the company about $67,000, DMD said.

Opflex would pay about $36,444 in personal property taxes over the six years and about $13,500 annually after the abatement period ends.

The DMD has recommended approval for the incentives, which will be discussed Wednesday at the Metropolitan Development Commission meeting. They would not be able to receive final approval until the April 15 MDC meeting.

Opflex, which makes foam products for use in sports equipment, gaskets, packaging and environmental remediation, has been based in New York for more than two decades.

The company is owned by NWS Holdings LLC of Indianapolis, the parent of National Wine and Spirits.

NWS Holdings has been in an ongoing court battle involving a lease dispute with Opflex’s landlord in New York, the Albany Times Union reported last month. The company's landlord won a court ruling to evict Opflex from its facility over unpaid rent, but the ruling was put on hold during an appeal.

DMD spokesman John Bartholomew said the court case would have to come to a conclusion before it would become a consideration in whether to approve or deny the incentives agreement. The agreements also contain safeguards to prevent or revoke incentives going to companies that don't keep up their end of the deal, he said.