By Joshua Burd
A maker of nutritional supplements is weighing a move from West Caldwell to Paterson, where state officials say it would build a nearly 80,000-square-foot facility for assembly and packing.
The company, Vitaquest International LLC, was awarded a 10-year, $29.4 million tax credit on Tuesday by the state Economic Development Authority. Currently located at 8 Henderson Drive in West Caldwell, the manufacturer would use the incentive to move its operations and 100 employees to 99 5th Ave. in Paterson.
The move would call for the company to invest more than $4.1 million in the new facility, according to the EDA. Doing so would result in the creation of 100 new jobs in addition to the retained positions, which were at risk being moved out of the state to an alternate site in Rochester, New York.
“Manufacturing is one of several key industries targeted for growth under the (Economic Opportunity Act,” Melissa Orsen, the authority’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Manufacturers are particularly important to the state’s economy for the career opportunities they offer, but also for the trade activity they spur and the important goods they provide that fuel other industries.”
An employee who answered the phone at Vitaquest’s headquarters on Tuesday declined to connect Real Estate NJ with a representative who could comment on the award.
Vitaquest, a subsidiary of CK Life Sciences International Inc., was established in 1977 and is a custom contract manufacturer of nutritional supplements, the EDA said. The company develops and manufactures products marketed in various distribution channels, including retail, direct selling, branded, direct-to-consumer, professional lines, television shopping, and direct response TV and radio.
The value of its tax credit was increased by several factors, including the fact that manufacturing jobs were at stake. Vitaquest also benefited by identifying a site in Paterson, a designated “Garden State Growth Zone,” where recipients are eligible for a higher award.
The company develops and produces more than 2,000 new products every year for clients in more than 40 countries around the world, according to the EDA. Its existing facility produces more than 500 million doses per month.
