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Mayor Linda Tyer submitted the petition to use $580,000 of the Pittsfield Economic Development Funds in the incentive package for LTI Smart Glass.

Tyer Pitches Incentive Package For LTI Smart Glass Expansion

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Christopher Kapiloff, a principal with LTI Smart Glass, shows the company's new product at a meeting with economic development and state officials earlier this year.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Linda Tyer is asking to use $580,000 of Pittsfield Economic Development Funds to help LTI Smart Glass expand.
 
LTI Smart Glass is looking at a 16,692 square-foot expansion to its current Federico Drive facility to accommodate a large contract the company recently received for its newest bulletproof glass product. It requires a $2.25 million capital investment and will add 38 new jobs over the next three years.
 
"We've worked closely with them in putting together a proposal that I think is supportive of them and fair to us for what we want to use economic development funds for," Tyer said during a recent interview.
 
The company had offers to expand elsewhere in the country and Tyer and the Department of Community Development have crafted an incentive package hoping to keep LTI in the city. 
 
"The proposed expansion project represents a $2.5 million capital investment and the creation of 38 new jobs by the end of 2019, in addition to the existing 100 jobs and $5 million investment the company has made in Pittsfield since 2008," Tyer wrote in her request to the City Council.
 
The amount would total $580,000 over multiple years and require continued job growth at the facility. The package provides incentives for both job growth and investments in the facility. The expectation is a minimum of 38 jobs — 12 in 2017, 11 in 2018, and 15 in 2019 — and additional incentives should the company expand beyond that.
 
"To share the benefits of LTI's growth with the city's taxpayers, the proposed incentives include a cash payment upon completion of the expansion in lieu of extending the company's existing tax increment financing agreement with the city," Tyer wrote to the City Council.  
 
"In addition. I am proposing a 'challenge' component to the City's financial support to encourage LTI's continued growth in Pittsfield beyond 2019."
 
The company would receive $200,000 upon the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy once the expansion is completed; $100,000 six months later if there is a total of 123 jobs based at there no later than Dec. 31, 2018 — $80,000 six months later at the 138 jobs point; $100,000 if it hits 163 jobs; another $100,000 if the company hits 188 jobs. The jobs must be full-time equivalent and pay at least $35,000 a year. A total of 38 new jobs is expected.
 
The company would also receive $80,000 through an expansion of its current Tax Increment Financing agreement, $200,0000 if it creates 50 more jobs by the end of 2022 — in addition to the 38 required by the end of 2019 for a total of 88 new jobs in five years.
 
The Department of Community Development also estimates a total of $600,000 eventually be added to the city's tax base with the expansion. It includes the purchase and installation of glass-tempering equipment, allowing a manufacturing component currently outsourced to be done in house.
 
The money will be issued as a promissory note for 10 years. The city has the right to receive those funds back if LTI opts to relocate, closes or the employment numbers drop below 100 employees for more than 18 months.
 
LTI has been on Federico Drive for just short of a decade and currently employs around 100 people. It had moved from Lenox, bringing 30 jobs with it at the time. The city provided an incentive package of $350,000 to create 100 jobs. But the recession had hit and the company fell short and only had 70 by the 2013 deadline.
 
In total, the city gave the company $250,000 through that package. The city also provided a tax increment financing package, delaying the amount of new taxes the company would have to pay because of increased property values caused by that investment.
 
The company manufactures and distributes numerous glass products, but the most recent contract is related to its security products. The company has had contracts to do the windows and doors at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, in police cruisers, at the Pentagon, and at the FBI's Hoover Building headquarters. 
 
"In the past five years, the economy has recovered, the company has adapted to changing market dynamics, and in 2016 merged with Kapiloff Glass of Adams, MA [sic]. As of February 2017, the company has 100 employees at the Federico Drive facility, is expanding its manufacturing facility on Federico Drive, and is bringing in-house a key component of its manufacturing process that has previously been outsourced," reads a memo from Community Development Director Deanna Ruffer.
 
"The 2016 merger with Kapiloff Glass, Inc. has further strengthened the financial and operating capabilities of the firm. The merged companies are owned and operated under the umbrella holding company of Advanced Impact Technologies Group, Inc. Jeff Besse, one of the two founders of LTI Smart Glass, owns 51 percent of the holding company with Peter and Chris Kapiloff each owning 24.5 percent."
 
The ownership group is Advanced Impact Technologies Inc. with a number of companies underneath it including LTI SmartGlass; Laminated Technologies Inc.; School Guard Glass; and others.
 
The City Council's Committee on Community and Economic Development will consider the request next week.

Tags: economic development,   LTI SmartGlass,   tax incentive,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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