Fall River, a city that decades ago watched its economy shrivel as manufacturing moved down south and overseas, is finding success in diversification.
Using tax incentive packages and touting a dedicated workforce, the city has been able to attract a wide-range of businesses over the last few years including most recently the New Jersey-based Silver Line Building Product Corporation, a company expected to bring 400 new jobs to the city.
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The results of diversification have been dramatic for a city that just ten years ago had an unemployment level of almost 20 percent.
According to Kenneth J. Fiola, Jr., executive director of the Fall River Office of Economic Development (FROED), the city has implemented 36 tax increment-financing plans that represent more than $200 million in private investment, and have resulted in more than 2,616 new jobs, as well as the retention of more than 6,000 jobs.
Silver Line Building Product Corporation, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of vinyl windows and doors, announced that it would build a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on a 15-acre parcel in the Fall River Industrial Park.
It’s an announcement that could have neighboring communities and states drooling, as luring manufacturers back to the New England marketplace is a challenge where competition is fierce and the stakes are high.
“This is a company that was looking at other sites in Massachusetts, as well as places in Rhode Island and Connecticut,” said Fiola. “It had been broken that they were working with a local real estate agent and we made it a point to meet with them.”
FROED also made it a point to link Silver Line’s management team with other local manufacturers.
“We had them sit down with other local presidents to get a view, collectively, of what this city is like,” Fiola said. “In Fall River that is the type of business that we cultivate. People are really working together to enhance the perception of the city.”
Eventually, Fiola said, it was the city’s tax incentive package and experienced workforce that made the deal a reality.
“The availability of our workforce and their work ethic are one of our strongest selling points,” he said. “It’s not easy to find the available workforce that has the commitment to working that we have. We definitely have a reputation for that.”
Mark Steinbauer, administrative vice president for Silver Line, agreed.
“The location was excellent for us,” he said. “We were very careful in deciding where we wanted to go, and Fall River’s employment base and the work ethic of its workers were a large part of our decision.”
The city’s tax incentive program – which offers savings in real estate taxes as well an investment tax credit based on the number of potential employees – were also a draw, Steinbauer said.
“We looked at other places but they didn’t have the same kind of package that we are working on with the city and the state,” he said. “This has proved to be very effective and useful tool for us. We take them very seriously, even rescinding a couple that didn’t meet our expectations.”
Overall, the companies that have benefited from tax increment financing plans, Fiola said, have diversified and stabilized the Fall River economy.
“What we have done is to adopt a two-pronged strategy,” he said. “One facet is to strengthen and solidify the manufacturing base and the second part is to diversify the economy – entering into the service sector and health care sectors.”
The city’s unemployment rate, which topped out at almost 20 percent a decade ago, has seen the benefits of the city’s diversified economy, where for the first time in history last year the service sector surpassed manufacturing.
“We have the same unemployment rate as Boston, and we are lower than Springfield, Worcester, New Bedford, and Lawrence,” Fiola said. “We have come a long way in regards to unemployment.”
Now with the opening of the Silver Line Factory and the announcement that the AJ Wright Company is expanding its Fall River operations, adding 250 workers, the concern has shifted from having enough jobs for people to having enough people for jobs.
It’s a challenge Fiola welcomes.
“What this does is create competition within the marketplace for employees,” he said. “Employers by necessity need to provide competing wages or they face the prospect of having their workers move to other companies. That makes it a good climate for our employees, and in the long run for our businesses.”
