Buffalo, N.Y.s Niagara Lubricant Co. reopened last week in a new location, three years after a fire razed its former factory, causing $8 million in damages.
The new 60,000 square foot, one-story building in East Buffalo, which was formerly an American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. facility, cost between $2 million and $3 million, the company said.
The plant is outfitted with what Niagara Lubricant Vice President Leon Smith IV calls a state-of-the-art fire suppression system. This thing is unbelievable, Smith told Lube Report. But I pray I will never need to use it.
The cause of the four-alarm fire that destroyed its factory in the Black Rock neighborhood of Buffalo in July 2011 is still unknown. Its been determined that it is indeterminable, Smith said. No workers were injured in the incident, but fire officials estimated that it caused around $8 million in damages.
Immediately after the fire, the company relocated in the city to a temporary building, where it had operated until moving to the new building this month. Of the 31 employees that worked at the prior facility, no one lost [his or her] jobs, and no one lost a paycheck, Smith pointed out.
He said the new, bigger building gives the company the opportunity to add several new jobs immediately and in the future, along with adding several new product categories to its portfolio.
The company was assisted in part by a $172,000 tax savings earmark and other help from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency and the National Development Councils Grow America Fund.
Founded in Buffalo in 1923, Niagara manufactures and packages industrial oils and greases, tire care products, automotive appearance products, and more. The company currently employs five generations of the Smith family.