Accelerate your Start Up Company in Buffalo Niagara

Viatran is a subsidiary of a publicly-traded, out-of state parent company, operating as a separate division in the Buffalo Niagara region. Viatran manufactures pressure sensors and transmitters, servicing a wide variety of industries. Viatran manufactures new products and repairs legacy product in a rapid response environment based on lean manufacturing and advanced electronic commerce capabilities. The company’s lease was coming due and at the same time the division was poised for a significant expansion, making their previous facility inadequate for the growing demand. The local leadership team was tasked with conducting a global search for the most appropriate venue to expand their operations, including other corporate facilities with capacity in Massachusetts, Texas, and Malaysia..

SWS Warning Lights Inc. (SWS) is a Canadian-based advanced manufacturing company that assembles safety warning lights for the construction industry. Their product is often found on snow plows, construction vehicles, and road construction signage. As SWS grew, they saw significant opportunities in the U.S. market, especially since their raw materials were being sourced from the U.S. An expansion to the U.S. would also help the company penetrate the larger U.S. market, establish a Made in the USA product, and reduce overall operating costs.

New Flyer is the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in North America with 3,800 employees and thirteen facilities across the U.S. and Canada. As part of the capital plan to upgrade public transportation in the New York City area, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded New Flyer a contract to refresh the entire system’s bus fleet. The contract required a portion of the final product be manufactured in New York State.

Instead of contracting the work, New Flyer decided to establish a manufacturing facility in the State to build transmission and axle sub-assemblies. These high-value parts would then be shipped to St. Cloud, MN for final assembly. To minimize costs associated with shipping parts to the Midwest, the New Flyer facilities team wanted an assembly plant as far west in NYS as possible. By locating in the most southwestern area of the state, the company determined it can save at least $250 per truckload in shipping costs to Minnesota.

GoGoPak is an Oakville, ON family owned company specializing in the sale of retail packaging and promotional products. The company has $1-2M in annual sales with services including custom printing solutions on packaging products such as bags, boxes, tissue paper, ribbon, labels, and string tags. In 2018, they were looking to the U.S. for expansion for various reasons. The high employee and power costs in Canada, their high percentage of U.S. sales and raw materials, bridge issues and delays for importing U.S. raw materials and sending orders to U.S. customers were all factors in their consideration of a U.S. facility. GoGoPak was also looking to bring the outsourced manufacturing for both their Canadian and U.S. orders back in house for better control over the product quality.