Ontario County, City of Geneva and NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal

Partner to Help Zotos International Grow

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y., July 22, 2009 — The Ontario County Board of Supervisors, working through its Office of Economic Development, recently approved a $250,000 loan from the county’s Revolving Loan Fund to Zotos International Inc., located in Geneva, N.Y.

Zotos, a professional beauty products company that manufactures and markets a full range of hair-care, hair-texture and hair-color products, operates a manufacturing plant in Geneva that produces packaging for its salon products. Zotos employs 300 people at the plant and this funding will help the company with a $5 million expansion project, adding 50 new jobs over the next three years.

The Ontario County loan is part of a larger financing package that also includes a $250,000 loan from the City of Geneva Revolving Loan Fund and a $500,000 grant from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). This assistance package helped leverage more than $4 million of company funds designed to bring additional manufacturing capacity in-house and to the Geneva plant. Zotos is in-sourcing its aerosol and plastic bottle blow-molding production facilities.

“Zotos is a vertically integrated company and we have enjoyed a sustained competitive advantage by following that strategy,” said Anthony Perdigao, Geneva Plant Manager and Vice President of Operations for Zotos. “We analyzed our industry and company and determined we also wanted to bring these operations under one roof. The Geneva plant was a prime candidate and the support we have received from the city, county and state helped make this expansion a reality.”

Deborah VanAmerongen, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, said: "The Division of Housing and Community Renewal is proud to work with the City of Geneva to support the expansion of Zotos International. This project will provide a critical investment in Ontario County and the Finger Lakes region and create 50 new job opportunities for New York working families."

Geneva Department of Economic Development Director Valerie Bassett notes that the Zotos deal is significant for Geneva.

“Zotos is a very important citizen in Geneva and we’re pleased to once again play a major role in assembling the funding needed to upgrade and install advanced processes here,” she said. “The Zotos project is a great example of Ontario County, the City of Geneva, and DHCR’s Office of Community Renewal working cooperatively to make a project happen.”

Mike Manikowski, director of the Ontario County Office of Economic Development, said this deal is especially gratifying.

“This endeavor is a true public-private partnership,” said Manikowski. “Zotos is a company that wants to do business here. It wants to invest here. It wants to hire more people. To help make that happen required the collaboration and cooperation of city, county and state agencies. That collaboration, when coupled with the Revolving Loan Fund, is a powerful combination for increasing business investment and creating jobs in Ontario County.”

For more information about the Ontario County Office of Economic Development and the Revolving Loan Fund, please call 585-396-4460 or visit www.ontariocountydev.org. For more information about the Geneva Revolving Loan Fund, please call 315-789-4393.