FALCONER – Not everything exceeds as originally envisioned in today’s competitive, yet challenged, economic environment.

For Jamestown MVP, LLC, or MVP Plastics, plans to produce environmentally-safe plastic products in Falconer never reached their full potential after running into financial troubles.

Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency officials say MVP Plastics ceased operations at its plant in Falconer and is left owing around $800,000 in loans the IDA gave the company. Last month, the equipment within the facility was officially turned over to creditors, including the manufacturer of the equipment, banks and the IDA.

The facility sits empty, but the IDA is spearheading an effort to restore activity.

“We have found a new investor to take over the project,” said Kevin Sanvidge, administrative director and CEO for the IDA. “We’re in the process right now of negotiating with an investor that would use the same equipment to make plastic plates.”

For MVP, goals to reach 125 jobs during its first phase of production and 125 more after that weren’t met. The plastic company was also projected to be Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ largest electric user.

MVP made its way to the area in 2011 after buying and occupying space at the former Sysco building on Allen Street Extension. From 2007-2011, MVP produced polypropylene deli and food storage containers but switched directions to produce safer and more environmentally-friendly bowls and plates.

MVP Plastics started manufacturing the eco-friendly products in early 2014. Production didn’t last, however, as financial issues and safety problems plagued MVP.

In December 2009, the IDA launched an effort to buy Sysco’s Falconer facility, located at 2060 Allen St. Ext. Sysco shut down in April 2009 – cutting over 200 jobs – and consolidated operations to nearby branches in Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

Borrowing money from the county, the IDA purchased the 300,000 square-foot facility in 2009 for $450,000.

After sitting for a year on the market, Jamestown MVP, LLC and Jacob Deutsch, president and CEO, bought the entire building for $1 million in February 2011. The plastic manufacturer also bought property behind the building from Acu-Rite. The IDA issued an Al Tech loan for $500,000 to MVP for the purchase and $450,000 for improvements.

Shortly after, MVP sold two-thirds of the facility to Maplevale Farms, which was leasing space at the facility after its Clymer facility suffered a roof collapse in December 2010. The sale went for $4 million, according to Rich Dixon, chief financial officer for the IDA.

“MVP didn’t want to sell it, but they were having a hard time raising capital,” Dixon said. “Had that building not been available, Maplevale would have gone out of business.”

The sale proved beneficial not only for Maplevale Farms, but the facility as a whole. The space that MVP occupied was upgraded with rooms, concrete flooring, lighting, air conditioning and a water line. Another $500,000 Al Tech loan was issued out for equipment and tax abatements were given on construction material for renovations.

But operations limped along as Deutsch had a hard time getting the factory up and running. Dixon said he continued to make loan payments, but he stopped paying by Dec. 1 of last year.

“That started foreclosure proceedings,” Dixon said. “We all had high hopes, but not everything exceeds.”

In June, MVP took another financial hit with $87,250 in fines that were handed down by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Penalties were levied as the company failed to correct a fall hazard and a recurring electrical hazard.

During a March inspection, it was found that company employees were still exposed to fall hazards while working on a fabricated work platform that the employer did not inspect to determine, rate and mark how much weight it could support. The company was also using extension cords instead of a permanent power cord to power a box-making machine, exposing employees to electric shock hazards.

With 250 jobs promised, MVP topped out at 25-30 employees. According to a 2014 PARIS report on MVP, the last report issued on the company, 28 full-time equivalents were at the facility when they were originally estimated to have created 35.

As for Maplevale Farms, officials say around 150 people are employed at the facility.

MVP Plastics joins several other local manufacturers that closed or moved to another area this year. Keywell Metals in Falconer mothballed its facility and moved operations to North Carolina. Forty employees were affected. In May, Power Drives Inc. moved operations from Falconer to Buffalo, impacting 98 employees. In July, Berry Plastics announced the closure of its Sheridan facility. The move affected 54 employees.

MVP Plastics also joins companies that had desires to operate successfully in Chautauqua County, but failed due to financial issues. In February 2015, Rae Foods Inc. ended operations just over a year into production as the pierogi company ran out of money. Empire Specialty Cheese Co. quickly ran out of funds after moving and investing millions of dollars at the former AFA Foods plant in Blockville. Castelli America has since acquired Empire Specialty Cheese Co. and its facility.