ECIDA approves PILOT transfer for Curtis Screw

With a sale pending to a Chicago-based manufacturer, a key public-sector hurdle in its hometown has been cleared by Curtis Screw LLC.

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency's directors, Wednesday morning, unanimously approved a provision that will allow current tax breaks the Buffalo company is receiving to be shifted to MacLean Curtis LLC, the new entity that will own the firm. MacLean Curtis will be a subsidiary of MacLean-Fogg Component Solutions LLC, which itself is an affiliate of the privately-held MacLean Fogg Co.

But, the approval came with an iron-clad proviso that MacLean-Fogg would maintain the 165 workers Curtis Screw currently employs at its 150,000-square-foot Thielman Drive plant. The payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) package remains in effect through 2020.

The cost of the transaction has not been disclosed.

The deal is expected to be completed later this quarter, said Paul Hojnacki, Curtis Screw president.

"It will be business as usual at the plant," Hojnacki said.

Both Curtis Screw and MacLean Fogg make a series of intricate products for a number of industries including automotive and heavy manufacturing.

Curtis Screw is one of Buffalo's largest privately-held companies with annual sales of more than $65 million. Besides its Buffalo plant and headquarters, Curtis Screw also has operations in Connecticut and North Carolina. The company has 350 employees.

The deal is part of a plan by the Hoskins family, who has owned the company for generations, to divest themselves of interests in Curtis Screw, Hojnacki told the ECIDA directors.

"It is really a succession plan for the company," he said.

James Fink covers real estate, commercial development and government