New home provides room to grow
Automated Dynamics joined ranks with Niskayuna’s engineering business community at the company’s grand opening on Wednesday, bringing new employment opportunities to the town.
According to Adam Bush, a marketing assistant at Automated Dynamics, the company hopes to add 20 new jobs over the next five years.
Since moving into their Niskayuna location earlier this year, the company has already hired four employees.
Automated Dynamics manufactures and sells composite structures and automation equipment for the automotive, aerospace, oil, military, and research and development industries.
With the GE Global Research facility a few miles away, it fits right in with the backbone of the Niskayuna business community.
The 32-year-old company is the second tenant in Niskayuna’s Commerce Park. Unilux Advanced Manufacturing is the only other company in the Park, but Town Supervisor Joe Landry hopes that will change in the coming years.
“This is the first tenant of Galesi [Group] that we’ll have in the Commerce Park and we’re very happy to welcome them. We’re also hoping to work with the Galesi Group to get additional tenants,” Landry said of Automated Dynamics.
The company’s move from Front Street in Schenectady to Commerce Park Drive has been in the works since 2014, when the Galesi Group first approached Automated Dynamics.
Galesi is developing the Alco site, near the Front Street offices that Automated Dynamics had called home. Galesi is building the Rivers Casino, two hotels and housing along with office and retail space on the site.
In order to open the road to the development, Galesi made a deal with Automated Dynamics in spring of 2015 to relocate the manufacturer to Niskayuna.
“It was an inconvenience to move . . . but it was the right decision,” Rob Langone, the president of Automated Dynamics said.
The new space is about the same size as the Front Street location, measuring 30,000 square feet. But it’s much more efficiently designed, said Langone.
That allows for more machinery and the expansion of their business.
“Right now, our Defense Department work is rapidly expanding. . . . We’re trying to get the rest of our business to grow as well,” Langone said.
With the automotive industry becoming more focused on energy effi ciency, Ralph Marcario, vice president of sales and marketing, said that quality composite products are in higher demand.
“They need to start making the parts lighter,” Marcario said, which is exactly what Automated Dynamics is in the business of doing.
According to Langone, the company averaged around $5 million in annual revenue in the old location. But in the new location, Langone believes that the company will bring in about $8 million.
With their rapidly growing business, Langone said that the company will be hiring to support it.
According to Bush, the company only housed 32 employees at the location on Front Street, but they will be expanding to about 50 in the new location.
“So far we’ve added sales staff and machine technicians. The company will add at least 20 jobs over the next five years. . . . There are current openings for machine technicians and aerospace sales representatives,” Bush said.
The majority of these positions will be hired from the local community.
“We have two current openings and our first choice is always local. Whenever we can, we hire locally,” Langone said.
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Robert Langone, president of Automated Dynamics, speaks Wednesday at a grand opening ceremony at the company’s plant in Niskayuna.