Made in Port Jervis

    It is amazing how many things that are made in Port Jervis are used around the world. Many are things that you come into contact with everyday, no matter where you live are made here. The first section that follows is part of an exhibit created by the city historian on the city's industries that now is housed in the offices of the Committee of the Cities in the state capital building in Albany. The second section is a newspaper story that appeared in our local newspaper in 1997 and that describes in greater detail some of the items that are manufactured here.

Peter Osborne, Executive Director
Minisink Valley Historical Society

        Welcome to Port Jervis, New York, a small city of 10,000 located at the junction of three states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and at the meeting place of the Neversink and Delaware rivers. It is located to the east of the Appalachian plateau and at the foot of the Shawangunk Mountains.
        It has served as a transportation center for hundreds of years, first as a stop on the Old Mine Road, the first 100-mile road in America built by Dutch explorers, then as a port on the Delaware and Hudson Canal and finally as a division center for New York and Lake Erie Railroad. It still serves as a regional center as the area's major roadways pass through or near it.
        Port Jervis is a historic town with buildings like Fort Decker and the restored Erie Depot available for viewing. It is filled with recreational and tourist opportunities and also looks to the future with great hope. We hope you will visit us or locate your business here or perhaps even move here. Whatever your goal, we hope you enjoy your time in Port Jervis.
        Port Jervis is home to a number of industries that are thriving and whose products are reaching regional, national and global markets. From airport runway lights, to lipstick, to candy, clipboards and pens, the products of our companies can be found around the world. Here is a sampling of some of those industries.
        Kalport Food Packaging produces Italian nougat candy under the brand name of Torrone in Port Jervis along with other upscale chocolate products, pretzels, Easter eggs, bunnies and Santa Clauses for the holiday seasons.
        A & W Products is a manufacturer of office and stationery supplies that are marketed around the world. One of the most unique items it has created is the Green Pen, the world’s first pen made from corn that is completely biodegradable. It breaks down in 865 days when exposed to soil and water. The company also manufactures clipboards, push pins and thumbtacks.
        Gillinder Glass is one of the oldest glass manufacturers in the country. The company’s specialty is to create individual moulds and products for its glassware customers. Their line of products include items for the aviation field, landscape lighting, general industrial and commercial use.
        Kolmar Laboratories, a subsidiary of the Outsourcing Services Group, is a global leader in the manufacture of the world’s finest color cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals and household products. Although customers around the world will not recognize the Kolmar name, they would be immediately familiar with the brand names of Kolmar’s customers. These brand names bring these customers many millions of dollars a year.
        The company is the area’s largest employer, employing an average of 750 people for its operations. It also has operations, licenses and affiliates around the world in Europe, Asia and Mexico.
        Future Home Technologies is a leading manufacturer of custom-designed modular homes, widely recognized for quality, fast delivery and value. The company has built thousands of homes for customers around the country from Maine to Maryland and Pennsylvania to Connecticut.
        If you would like further information about our city please call (914) 858-4017 or e-mail the city at pjnymayor@citlink.net . Our Community Development Agency director is Kathy Hendrickson and she can be reached at (914) 858-4024.

MADE IN PORT JERVIS

© Tri-State Gazette

    Most of the preceding article was published in the Tri-State Gazette on May 29, 1997 and is reprinted here with their permission. At least one industry, Future Home Technologies, has updated their listing to include current information and included  photographs. To have your business listed or your listing updated please contact the city's webmaster.

Airport landing lights, lipstick, air transport cases, food cabinets for Boston Gardens, clipboards, thumbtacks, Olympic Swimsuits, manufactured homes, flexible hoses and spaghetti sauce

By Bob Couture Staff Writer, Tri-State Gazette (Gazette writers Skip Leon and Linnea A. Houskeeper contributed to this report.)

Port Jervis, New York

With "Made in China" appearing more frequently on everything from toys, to bicycles and dinnerware, the average consumer is left wondering if anything is still made in the U.S.A. Port Jervis residents can take heart. The smallest of Orange County's three cities is home to thriving companies whose products are reaching regional, national and even global markets.

GILLINDER BROTHERS INC.

Gillinder Brothers Inc. on Erie Street is the city's oldest manufacturer. It now makes half of the airport runway lights in the country, but hasn't lost touch with its past as a producer of fine glass. While eyeing China as a new market for airport lighting, current president Charles Gillinder is turning some empty floor space into a museum and retail store for the company's line of giftware.

"When I tell people we make industrial and commercial lighting glass, they usually respond with a blank stare," said Gillinder. "The idea of the museum/store and plant tours we're planning is to provide something they can associate with." Gillinder, 43, is the fifth generation of his family to head the company, which has a long and colorful history to draw upon in bringing its products to a wider public audience.

The glass-making firm was founded in Philadelphia in 1861 by William T. Gillinder. The glass factory built by Gillinder on the grounds of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia became one of the event's most popular exhibits. The affordable souvenirs sold there are today highly prized by collectors, since the original molds for them were destroyed.

The company moved to Port Jervis in 1912, acquiring the Orange County Flint Glass Works of Brox & Buckley in the city's West End. It manufactured oil fonts, globes, blown gas lamp shades and bowls until a fire destroyed the plant in 1919. Gillinder then moved its operations to the Dorflininger Glass factory in White Mills, Pa.

The firm returned to Port Jervis and resumed its operations in 1921. Its plant, which today employs 55 multi-skilled workers, has changed little since then. The raw materials used in making glass are cooked for 30 to 36 hours in cast clay pots inside gas-fired furnaces until they reach 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Workmen thrust long pieces of iron into the pots and with a dexterous movement, make a glob of the molten glass adhere to the end before removing the pipe.

The glass is then trimmed off by another worker before being placed into a mold on a hand-operated press, where it is pressed into a certain shape. Molded items are then taken by other workmen and placed in an annealing oven, where they remain until cooled. They are then inspected and stockpiled for shipment to customers. Industrial and commercial glass, such as airport lighting, landscape lighting, covers for utility meters and traffic light lenses, account for 90 to 95 percent of Gillinder's production work.

The rest is devoted to more than 40 items of giftware that will be on sale in the 1,000-square-foot museum store under construction in a former packing area of the factory. The renewed interest in collectible giftware began in 1994, when the Wheaton Museum in Millville, N.J., featured a display on Gillinder glass. "It attracted a lot of interest and we decided to produce paperweights with our logo on them to give to customers," Gillinder said.

Last year, Gillinder Brothers produced a three-inch round paperweight bearing Milford's seal for the borough's bicentennial. It also had a display of art glass and giftware set up at the Erie Depot on weekends in October when steam train excursions came to town. "Our depot display drew a good response. We had a lot of favorable comments," said Gillinder. "We feel Port Jervis is a prime tourism area and we wanted to do something to draw on that."

This year, the company is producing a glass paperweight for the Town of Deerpark's Bicentennial and an oval paperweight of the number plate on Chesapeake & Ohio Engine No. 614, which will again be bringing train excursions to the city. They will be among the items on sale in the gallery-like museum/store, which will also feature a display of rare Gillinder glass collectibles when it opens next month. "We're hoping to attract local residents, people traveling through, and bus tours," said Gillinder. "We'll also be giving tours of a section of the factory so visitors can see hot glass."

One of the stops on the tour will be the factory's oldest furnace, which was built in the 1860s. Rebuilt many times over the years, it has been shutdown and will be used for display. "We're in a small, specialized industry shared by no more than 10 other companies, but none of them do all the things we do," Gillinder said. "We want to show people that."

KOLMAR LABORATORIES

Much of the nation's lipstick is made at Kolmar Laboratories, which has been a part of the cosmetics industry for 76 years and a major employer in Port Jervis for 56. While Kolmar does not market any of its own products, it does manufacture lipstick, creams, lotions, powders and other cosmetics under contract with many large corporations. Company officials are tight-lipped about who their customers are, saying the companies like to maintain the strong product identity that has made them household names.

Lessing L. Kole and Dr. Frederick Marsek founded Kolmar in Milwaukee in 1921. In 1937, the plant moved to Hoboken, N.J. When Kolmar started looking for a permanent place to locate its Eastern headquarters close to New York City, it approached Port Jervis. City officials offered the company a 20.6-acre hilltop property on Point Peter. It included a group of barracks-like buildings built in 1930 and used as a camp for transients workers until it was abandoned.

Kolmar leased the property before buying it in 1950. Additions and renovations to the company's Skyline Drive division were completed through the years as the business grew. A newer facility was built in town and became the company's King Street division. It also underwent several expansions and renovations.

Kolmar was purchased by Toronoto-based CCL Industries in 1991. Soon afterward, Kolmar moved its corporate headquarters to Pearl River from Port Jervis but kept its flagship production operations here. In June of 1994, CCL's board of directors approved a $3.8 million consolidation of all manufacturing operations at the King Street division building. The consolidation was completed in September of 1995 and Kolmar sold the Skyline Drive property to North Carolina real estate investment company for $450,000 on December 29, 1998.

Kolmar now employs 700 to 800, depending on the time of year, making it the city's largest employer. In keeping with modern technology, Kolmar recently installed new state of the art filling equipment to expand capabilities and improve output, said Eileen Kohler, who has been general manager since June of 1994.

A & W PRODUCTS

A & W Products Company, Inc. started in 1934 as a small family run office, home and school supply business. "Today, A & W is the largest manufacturer in the world of clipboards and thumbtacks," said director of marketing, George R. Augustin. The Augustin family has owned the business since 1934 when it was founded in Long Island City, N.Y. A & W has been located in Port Jervis since 1956.

The primary product lines of A & W are clipboards thumbtacks, protractors, rulers and notes-on-a-roll. Chief executive officer Muhammad Ghobadian, PhD explained there are around 15 different versions of each product. A & W makes 1,800 different products in all. With an estimated 100 employees A & W services multibillion dollar industries, such as K-mart, Walmart, Staples and Target.

Chobadian attributed some of A & W's success to their quality products and customer service, efficient employees and reasonable price. Of course, A & W never stops working on ways to become better, whether it is creating new products or improving already solid customer relations.

Even though A & W is a major player in the office supply industry, they are still a part of the community. Ghobadian said they enjoy being in a small community and participating in local projects and events.

ANDMORE SPORTSWEAR CORP.

If you watched the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, you saw some gold medal-winning swimmers wearing suits that were manufactured at Andmore Sportswear Corp. on Minisink Avenue in Port Jervis. The suits were made by The Finals, which at that time was a division of Andmore. Now the factory manufactures only competitive swimwear under The Finals line. Following a seasonal layoff approximately a month ago, the company employs about 10 sewers, according to a worker at the factory who spoke on condition of anonymity. Andmore's busiest season is January through March. The company employed as many as 225 people before a 1994 downsizing. Following the layoff of 20 workers in March, Andmore employed about 40 workers. Cuts in 1994 came after Andmore closed its fashion swimwear division, which was unprofitable.

  FUTURE HOME TECHNOLOGY

Future Home Technology's first home rolled off the line in August 1989. Since then, some 3000+ quality homes have been manufactured at our Port Jervis, NY factory.
Our factory was the culmination of years of research and design. It was built specifically to construct modular homes, not retro-fitted from some other use as other modular factories  are. This means that our construction team has access to modern, state-of-the-art equipment to properly manufacture your home.

Many of our core team members have been with us from the very beginning creating a company history unparalleled in the industry. This knowledge and experience prevents "recreating the wheel" enabling our construction staff to work more quickly & efficiently.

Future Home Technology has become known as simply the best manufacturer in the industry. Our reputation has grown greatly since 1989 through the word of mouth by our builders and hundreds of satisfied homeowners. This reputation was earned through years of hard work and continues to grow with every home we produce.

Future Home Technology, Inc.
PO Box 4255, 33 Ralph St., Port Jervis, NY 12771
845-856-9033

www.FutureHomeTechnology.com 

FLEXIBLE HYDRAULIC SUPPLY

Flexible Hydraulic Supply is one of the newer businesses in town, but its proprietor and location have a long history in manufacturing. Ted Kuykendall, Jr., is the sole proprietor of the hydraulic hose assembly business located at 55 Jersey Ave. the site of the former Flexible Fabricators business. Kuykendall worked for Flexible Fabricators for 30 years managing the business until he left in October 1995.He assembles Aeroquip hydraulic hoses on the ground floor of the building. The hoses are used for construction equipment, heavy-duty trucks and backhoes to name a few. After Flexible Fabricators went out of business as of January 1, Kuykendall opened Flexible Hydraulic Supply the third week in March He said many companies assemble the hoses as a sideline but his is unique in that it specializes in the hose assembly. Kuykendall's is a one-man operation. He sells the hoses to area businesses and municipalities.

"We do mostly all local sales in the Tri-State area " he said. "We sell mostly to individuals and small companies. It's mostly retail sales." He also supplies hydraulic hoses to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) as well as to the towns of Greenville and Deerpark. He currently has 150 customers. Kuykendall said he has no plans to add workers at this time. But he does want to expand on the products assembled at the plant.

"I'll continue adding to the line " he said. "We're going to sell specialized fittings and other hardware. We'll continue to expand the line in that way."

The building at 55 Jersey Ave. was bought by Flexpansion Company of New York City in 1947. It added another division Techniflex. Kuykendall's father Theodore Sr. and three Partners bought Techniflex in 1962 and renamed it Flexible Fabricators. After the elder Kuykendall retired July 1 1986, his son ran the business.

KALPORT

When Nicholas Mascara wanted to show the Port JervisPlanning Board what his family-run company sells he passed around a box of torrone. As board members chewed the nougat and honey Italian candy, Mascara showed them samples sauces, vinegar, canola and olive oils, anisett biscotti and rum cakes the company packages for two major distributors.

Mascara, the chief executive officer of KALTEC Food Packaging in Carteret, N.J., has formed a New York corporation KALPORT Food Packaging Inc. KALPORT will be moving into the former Chronar factory at 36-40 Center St. in July and will initially package Italian candy and chocolate covered pretzels. The company will employ 17 people after relocating to the West End Industrial Park site. It will add 15 more if additional candy lines are moved here and another 10 jobs when packaging of vinegars and imported oils begins later this year.

Up to 40 employees could be working at the renovated plant within the next 24 months. Expansion of the factory on an adjacent 3.1-acre parcel to accommodate a pasta sauce packaging operation will eventually result in up to 100 employees. The 20,000 square-foot factory has been vacant since Chronar, which manufactured solar power panels, closed on Sept. 28, 1990 after filing for federal bankruptcy protection.

When Mascara, whose company has been in business since 1984, started looking for somewhere to move last year, he called the city's Community Development Agency. Agency and city officials gave him a tour of the empty plant. The adjacent land, which the city sold to the Port Jervis Industrial Development Agency in February, is the last vacant tract in the industrial park.

The city, IDA and KALPORT signed a lease-purchase agreement on the factory and land on February, 28, 1997. In March, the Common Council approved an agreement with the company to accept payments in lieu of taxes over the next 10 years. "I'm excited about this because the Chronar building has been a thorn in our side for many years," said Mayor R. Michael Worden of the city's newest company.

Kalport's plans for the property will bring Jobs and tax revenue." The city will receive about $12,127 in taxes this year under the PILOT agreement which was negotiated by the IDA. The IDA is involved because it originally sold $728,000 in industrial revenue bonds Chemical Bank as part of Coronar's complex financial package.

SKYDYNE

For companies or organizations that need to transport sensitive equipment, H.G.I. Skydyne  on River Road in Port Jervis is on the case. Actually, Skydyne manufacture customized carrying cases. Many of then are Air Transport Association (ATA) cases which are built to specifications and requirements set down by the ATA.

One of Skydyne's contracts last year was to manufacture cases used to ship sensitive phased-array antennas, which are used on the Iridium satellite communications system. The cases are designed to withstand the rigors of overseas and overland transport to guarantee the solar panel antennas arrive intact at various launch sites. They are built from Unistrut aerospace composite panels and have an interior dimension of 96 by 59 by 28 inches so the antennas fit perfectly into them.

H.G.I. Skydyne employs 66 people at its River Road location. It has been there since 1942, when it was founded by Melville Weill.

FORMERLY MADE IN PORT JERVIS

    Shortly after Port Jervis was incorporated as a village in 1853 it boasted a glass factory, a grist mill and a factory that produced wheelbarrows. By 1880, there was an ironworks. In 1888 L. M. Jones started making ice cream here. At the turn of the century the Erie Railroad machine shops located here were turning out hundreds of wheels a day for the railroad's proud fleet. Factories were extensive. They included silk mills, factories that made saws, glass, shoes, shirts, cigars, silver plate and sashes and blinds. There were two carriage companies, one book binding firm, one wallpaper print factory, two foundries, a nickel plate factory, and four bottling plants.

        Dress gloves were manufactured here for 75 years at the Chant glove factories. Port Jervis almost rivaled Gloversville in the production of dress gloves. And the Swinton Company made stoves and cast iron products in thriving foundries.

When Port Jervis became a city in 1907 Benjamin Happ built a large candy factory and residence. In the years since Port Jervis has had factories that manufactured slippers, coats, baby clothes, lingerie, sweaters, solar panels and bridal gowns.

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Last Updated: Friday, April 01, 2005