IT firm Agilant Solutions to repay up to $1 million in tax breaks after cutting jobs

A provider of information technology services must repay up to $1 million in tax breaks after laying off employees at its Nassau County headquarters and warehouse.

Agilant Solutions Inc. has reached an agreement with the county’s Industrial Development Agency to pay back some of the tax breaks that were awarded nine years ago in return for the company's pledge to expand within New York State instead of move to New Jersey.

Agilant promised to add 153 employees to its workforce of 163 at a Manhattan office and a warehouse in New Hyde Park. The existing employees and new hires would work from a 72,500-square-feet facility in Port Washington instead of East Rutherford, New Jersey.

But the employment threshold of 316 jobs was never reached, and the company now has just 185 employees — far short of the commitment it made in 2017, according to state records and interviews.

Under the agreement with the IDA, Agilant will repay $500,000 in tax aid later this year. If the company’s employment falls below 185 jobs as of year-end and as of Dec. 31, 2027, it will repay an additional $500,000 in two installments of $250,000, based on a consent resolution approved unanimously by the IDA board in February.

Records show Agilant’s tax incentive package ends next year.

Agilant saved more than $1.7 million on property taxes between 2018 and 2024. The company also saved $107,630 off sales taxes on the purchase of equipment and furnishings as part of $2.6 million in renovations to its building at 3 Seaview Blvd. in Port Washington, the records show.

IDAs grant tax breaks to expanding businesses and real estate developers in return for capital investment and job creation. The projects are reviewed annually to ensure that promises are kept. If they aren’t, IDAs can seek to recapture some or all the tax aid.

In 2017, Nassau and state officials hailed Agilant’s move to Port Washington as proof Long Island could counter the enticements being offered by New Jersey, which has wooed dozens of businesses to cross the Hudson River.

Layoffs due to contract losses

In fall 2024, Agilant chief executive Sonny Chabra told the Nassau IDA that his company couldn’t keep its employment promise because its largest customer, the New York City Department of Education, terminated one contract and reduced the amount of another as part of citywide budget cuts a year earlier. As a result, Agilant laid off 72 employees.

Agilant sells computer equipment and provides staff to perform help-desk functions and maintenance at the DOE and other institutional customers.

“Had the DOE not suffered budget cuts, the company would have met the job requirement,” Chabra wrote in a Sept. 23, 2024, letter obtained by Newsday under the Freedom of Information Law.

Chabra and Agilant's real estate attorney, John D. Chillemi, did not respond to requests for comment.

But in a presentation to the IDA board, Chillemi said Agilant was growing before the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-21 and the size of the company’s workforce is dependent on winning new contracts.

The attorney also said Agilant has left Port Washington for another building in Nassau. He didn’t identify the new location or when the move took place.

Agilant is now based at 100 Commercial St. in Plainview, according to three employees.

IDA chief executive Sheldon Shrenkel said the agency gave Agilant time to come into compliance after it failed to meet its job commitment in 2022 and 2023. The IDA moved to recapture some tax breaks only after the commitment wasn’t met in 2024, he told Newsday.

“I want to keep the jobs in Nassau County … 185 jobs are still a lot of jobs,” Shrenkel said.

State aid never utilized

In a December email to the Agilant attorney, Shrenkel rejected the company’s initial proposal to repay only $250,000 in tax breaks, saying that amount “is unacceptable.” The email was obtained via the FOIL request.

Separately, Agilant in 2017 was awarded up to $2.5 million in state tax credits by Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency, for preserving and creating jobs.

ESD spokeswoman Emily Mijatovic said on Thursday, “The project was terminated and the company did not receive any tax credits.”

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.