Ilion, NY (WIBX) - Remington Arms is celebrating some good economic news today with the completion of a construction project started last year and the growth of its work force.

51st District State Senator James L. Seward says the company's expansion is happening at a time when good economic news is hard to come by. "We're here to celebrate the fact that the expansion has been completed, all the good things we said were going to happen 8 months ago, have happened; the expansion has been completed and most importantly 100 new people are employed," Seward said.

Last May the parent company of Remington Arms--Freedom Group, LLC--relocated the operations of its Connecticut plant, Marlin Firearms, to the Ilion plant and the expansion project came on the heels of that transfer, allowing the group to grow its work force in Ilion to 980 employees.

A couple of years ago Freedom Group closed its Massachusets plant and consolidated those services into the Ilion plant. Also, the transfer of portions of the Marlin Firearms plant in Connecticut 8 months ago is the second transfer Remington Arms in Ilion is benefiting from. And, former Congressman Michael Arcuri was also instrumental in the company's growth with a $21 million defense contract he helped secure last year for the construction of military sniper rifles.

Seward says the future looks bright for Remington Arms. "The fact that we have seen two consolidations within the company come to Ilion,  means that we have proven that Remington Arms at the Ilion location can get the job done," Seward said.

The State Senator added that the company has a great work force including a local economic development team in place for further development projects. He said through the partnerships with state and federal employees and Representatives,  the area will continue to see more economic growth. He said all these activities, "puts us in a good position going forward for more good news." The $6 million construction project was paid for with private and state incentive dollars.

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