Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – The sudden closure of the Sumitomo Rubber plant in Tonawanda caught several in the Western New York community by complete surprise. This includes the folks with the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA).
“Our thoughts and hearts go out to the more than 1,500 employees and families that are going to be impacted by this. A pretty shocking decision, and something I think we’re all trying to get our heads around at the moment,” said John Cappellino, president and CEO of ECIDA.
Over the last several years, the ECIDA has helped local plant management at Sumitomo finance job creation and production expansion at the Tonawanda site. The ECIDA recently approved incentives for two major expansion projects at Sumitomo.
“The IDA offered some incentives to projects in 2017 and also, again, in 2021, both for renovations and expansions of that facility. To date, those expansions and investments had happened, and they …