New jobs will soon be coming to Watertown. A local manufacturing company plans to expand, creating a dozen new jobs in the coming years. Our Alex Valverde tells us what impact this could have on the county.
WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Roth Industries, Inc. currently has about 18 employees, but that will soon change. The manufacturing company is planning to expand its facility and its workforce.
"The Watertown facility’s been operating 24/7 for the better part of over a year now. Staffing is very difficult when you have to operate 24/7," said Roth Industries, Inc. President & CEO Joe Brown. "We have business growth that we anticipate coming as well as some product lines that are already growing."
The company makes oil storage tanks and traffic barriers, among other products. It plans to add 12 new jobs within four years and expand its building to create room for a second blow-molding machine.
"It’s going to be a more sophisticated machine than what we currently offer," said Brown. "It will allow us to make more complicated parts, as well as some larger parts that we currently aren’t able to make."
Along with the new jobs in Watertown, the company also plans to keep 42 jobs statewide, including 25 in Jefferson County.
Local officials said this expansion and the addition of new jobs will really help the area.
"Manufacturing jobs are tough to come by and we have them here in Watertown. They’re the premier manufacturers in the city of Watertown, so we’re just proud to have them choose to locate here in Watertown and we’re ecstatic about their success," said Watertown Mayor Joseph Butler, Jr.
"Anytime that you retain jobs, that’s a good thing and on top of that, when they add 12 jobs, you know their future is here. Their expectations and their goals to try and reach the sales figures that they’re looking for only bode well for Jefferson County," said Scott Gray, the chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Legislators.
The company hopes to start the expansion project in July and finish before winter. The new machine will be installed next summer, and the jobs will soon follow.
The company will also receive up to $425,000 in state tax credits in return for creating and retaining jobs.