UTICA — A&P Master Images is continuing its growth streak. The business, which has grown steadily since its founding in 2003, is seeking to purchase land adjacent to its 205 Water St. location in Utica.

The company’s offer on the land has been pre-approved by the city’s Urban Renewal Agency and, at press time, was awaiting final approval from the Utica Common Council, which met recently. Purchase information was not disclosed at press time.

The embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products company currently owns just over 1 acre on Water Street and will acquire another three-quarters of an acre if the sale goes through. Co-owner and CEO Howard Potter says the company plans to build a 3,200-square-foot building to house the company’s new vinyl production department.

A&P moved into its 5,500-square-foot Water Street location in February 2014 and added a vinyl printing machine that July. The company previously outsourced vinyl work, but the demand grew to a point where it had to bring the process in-house, Potter says.

The machine can print vehicle wraps, banners, floor graphics, magnetics, window graphics, and more, Potter says. “It’s pretty much endless,” he notes of the capabilities. And the company’s 3,000-plus clients have embraced the vinyl services, growing them to the point where A&P had to add a second machine just over a month ago, Potter says.

 Now, the company is fast running out of space in the current facility, Potter says. The new building, which he hopes to complete next spring, will house A&P’s vinyl department, freeing up space in the current building.

However, Potter doesn’t plan for the growth to stop there. Within the next three to five years, he expects he will need to add another building on Water Street to accommodate the company’s growth. The business has generated a growth rate of about 30 percent annually, Potter says. “Even if that held at 15 percent, we’d outgrow this building in a year or two,” he adds.

Ideally, Potter says he would like to build an 8,000-square-foot building to house all the company’s production, leaving the current building free for sales offices and a larger showroom. Currently, A&P displays products in a 400-square-foot showroom. With more than 700,000 promotional products available, Potter says the firm needs more room so customers can see the full scope of what it offers. “It’s going to open their eyes to a whole new world of what’s out there,” he says.

About 60 percent of A&P’s customers are located in New York state, with the remaining 40 percent coming from 15 other states and four other countries. About 50 percent of orders are repeat business, such as retailers ordering restock items like coffee mugs with their logo on it. And, the remaining orders are a mix of new orders from existing customers and new ones. Potter declined to share revenue information.

A&P Master Images (www.masteryourimage.com) employs 15 people. The company offers an array of promotional products and provides screen-printing, embroidery, graphic design, rhinestone apparel, sublimation, laser apparel, and vinyl services to customize those products. 

Some of A&P’s customers include Utica Coffee Roasters, Big Apple Music, the Boilermaker Road Race, Adirondack Bank, First Source Federal Credit Union, Roser Communications Network, Inc., and numerous area public schools and colleges.

ROME — Oneida County microenterprise companies that need working capital may be eligible for a grant program that Mohawk Valley EDGE is administering.

The organization defines a microenterprise company as one with five or fewer employees.

Grant recipients can request funding awards between $5,000 and $35,000 for machinery, equipment, and working capital, according to a recent news release.

Recipients will need to provide a minimum of 10 percent equity in the project. 

Eligible applicants must locate and operate their businesses outside the cities of Utica and Rome and must create at least one new job as a result of grant funding.

Mohawk Valley EDGE refers to Utica and Rome as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) entitlement cities, so businesses located in those cities aren’t eligible to apply.

The eligibility requirements indicate that “utilization of funds must be eligible pursuant to the guidelines governing the HUD community-development block grant program and as amended,” Mohawk Valley EDGE said.

The New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal provides the community development block-grant funding for Oneida County, the organization added.

Mohawk Valley EDGE will accept applications on a “rolling basis” and a volunteer committee will review them. 

The program will continue until Mohawk Valley EDGE awards all grant dollars, it said. 

Interested candidates can visit www.mvedge.org to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire and review the program details. 

Applicant eligibility

To be an eligible applicant, a microenterprise owner needs to be registered as a U.S. corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship; demonstrate the ability to repay if found in default of program objectives; have “good character and reputation;” and be of legal age, Mohawk Valley EDGE said.

Businesses must be involved in sectors that include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, agri-business, high technology, research and development, and “traditional and innovative” small-business endeavors.

An applicant also needs to work with the SUNY Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for help with business-plan development “and/or a demonstrated track record of success along with an adherence to a business plan,” Mohawk Valley EDGE said. 

If the business has been operating for less than 24 months, the grant program requires the owner or principal to participate in the SBDC training course, called “Small Business In Depth.” 

The cost of $95 per attendee will be an eligible expense of microenterprise grant funds.

The program will provide grants for any microbusiness activity that supports the program objectives and leads to the creation or retention of jobs for “low or moderate” income people as the New York State Office of Community Renewal guidelines define the status. 

The owner must meet the low or moderate income criterion if the company has no plans to hire new or retain existing employees.

The microenterprise must demonstrate a “reasonable likelihood” for long-term viability, based upon issues such as “feasibility, marketability, management, competition, and capitalization,” according to Mohawk Valley EDGE.       

FRANKFORT, N.Y. — Northern Safety and Industrial, a company based about 10 miles east of Utica that sells safety and industrial supplies, is being bought by the Würth Group, a Germany–based company whose main business is in assembly and fastening materials.

No job cuts are planned as a result of the pending change in ownership, according to a company news release. Northern Safety has nearly 500 employees, about half of whom work in New York state, according to Northern Safety’s vice president of marketing, Kathleen Pezzulo.

The acquisition is scheduled to close at the end of July, according to Pezzulo, who declines to disclose terms of the acquisition.

Northern Safety has two New York state facilities, both in the Herkimer County town of Frankfort. One is its headquarters, situated at 232 Industrial Park Drive, which will not be moved as a result of the pending acquisition, the company says.

 “Northern Safety has been one of the largest privately owned companies in this market for a long time,” Marc Strandquist, executive vice president of the Würth Group, says in the release. “The Würth Group has a long-standing strategy of enhancing our product offering. The acquisition of Northern Safety supports that strategy. Their core competency of personal protective equipment and safety supplies is a great complement to our current offerings.”

Northern Safety’s current owner and CEO, Salvatore Longo, who founded the company in 1983, says in the release that the firm is excited about joining the Würth Group.

“Northern Safety will be the platform company for safety and industrial supplies in North America,” Longo says. “We have a large long-term investment with the Würth Group, and they’ve committed substantial resources to grow this company,”

Northern Safety has 16 other facilities outside of New York state, according to its website — five in Texas, three in Tennessee, two in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and one in Delaware, Missouri, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The Würth Group is privately held, and comprised of more than 400 companies, located in over 80 countries, according to the release. It employs more than 66,000 people.

Contact Nick Kapteyn at nkapteyn@cnybj.com