BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A 3D manufacturer is making Buffalo, New York, its permanent home, bringing new manufacturing jobs to the city's 1st Ward.
KAV, a company that specializes in 3D-printed bike helmets, has relocated from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, with plans to expand its workforce.
"And we were looking for a location that had just a great community, a workforce, and Buffalo had that all in spades for us," said Whitman Kwok, founder of KAV.
WATCH: Silicon Valley 3D manufacturer relocates to Buffalo, creating new jobs in specialized production
The company's manufacturing process involves 3D printing technology that creates specialized bike helmets designed to improve performance. Their aerodynamic helmet design allows cyclists to save 90 seconds on a 50 km ride.
"We don't have to have a very complicated supply chain and we're not dependent on overseas manufacturing, and it allows us to decouple that," Kwok said.
The production facility operates daily, with team members harvesting newly printed helmet components every morning and afternoon. Each helmet consists of five different parts that move through an assembly line process.
Mike Avery, production supervisor at KAV, appreciates the opportunity to help build the company from the ground up.
"Basically, create the system that we want to be in, and that's exactly what I'm looking for in a job. That's really what brought me here," Avery said.
After completing construction in April and hiring initial team members, KAV is now looking to expand its workforce further.
"We had construction up until about April. We started to hire our first couple of team members and now we are talking about hiring several more team members for the production side," said Alex Grenning.
Colleen Heidinger, president of 43 North, sees KAV's relocation as evidence of Buffalo's growing appeal to innovative companies.
"If we can pull Whitman out of Silicon Valley, I would argue we can pull someone from anywhere," Heidinger said.
She highlighted the region's workforce and cost advantages as key factors in attracting businesses like KAV.
"The example of the workforce that we have in this region, the opportunity for cost savings as a result of our community," Heidinger said.
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