Aerospace manufacturer buys old Essilor factory in Seminole
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 4, 2015

The long-dormant Essilor of America Inc. factory in Seminole has a new owner - one that may be looking to move his company to the area.

A corporate entity tied to Rahul Shukla, CEO of SS White Technologies Inc., closed on the Essilor property at 8300 Park Blvd. on Thursday, according to Pinellas County property records.

SS White Technologies, based in New Jersey, engineers and manufactures flexible shafts that are used in airplane engines and surgical instruments, among other items.

In July, Pinellas County Commissioners approved an incentive package in the form of tax refunds for an unnamed "aviation/aerospace company" that was seeking to expand its headquarters in Pinellas, creating 125 jobs, according to the agenda item.

The jobs are to pay 200 percent of the average annual wage in Florida. The local commitment to the incentive package is $175,000, half of which will be paid by the county and half of which will be the City of Seminole.

Shukla declined comment on the transaction Friday. An Enterprise Florida representative did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The company occupies a 90,000-square-foot facility in Piscataway, New Jersey, according to its website. The former Essilor facility is about 85,000 square feet, according to property records.

Essilor is an optical lens manufacturer that at one time employed more than 1,000 people in Pinellas County. It closed the Seminole facility and moved those operations to Texas in 2010.