POTSDAM, N.Y. – A new facility representing the start of further expansion for LC Drives has been approved by the Potsdam Town Planning Board.

The board voted to issue a special use permit following a public hearing on April 6 for the company’s site plan and request to construct a 30,000-square-foot light manufacturing facility at 6968 Route 56.

The proposed move to Route 56 follows steady growth and coincides with the company’s intentions to expand from the North Country Incubator, jointly operated by Clarkson University’s Shipley Center for Innovation and the state’s Hot Spot Program.

A transition to Route 56 between the villages of Potsdam and Norwood has been in the works for a few years, and the company already has the approval to develop a new 120,000-square-foot facility on the property.

During the public hearing, Devon Sutton, director of strategic operations, said the company is not yet ready to move forward with the full Route 56 expansion. The 30,000-square-foot building would house two manufacturing lines and serve as a transition space until the remaining 120,000 square feet can complete the 150,000-square-foot hub.

The relocation and ideal expansion to 150,000 square feet by 2024, Ms. Sutton said last month, would support its anticipated staffing growth to 500 employees within the next five years. In 2019, about 20 people were employed by LC Drives, and that total increased to 63 by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring. Despite the ongoing health crisis and nationwide economic shutdown, 125 employees now work for the company.