On Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan joined local officials, including Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick, Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, and members of the Smithtown Town Council in a show of support for the announcement of a new Tesla location coming to Smithtown. The property, once the home of Sixth Avenue Electronics, located at 1000 Nesconset Highway (at Route 347 and South Hillside Avenue), has been a vacant blight for over a decade.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Tesla as a neighbor, and we thank them for choosing Smithtown to become a new home. We’re looking forward to a great relationship for many years to come… Smithtown has been at the forefront of Alternative Energy for some time now. Our street lighting is all LED, we have begun to use electric cars for Town vehicles, and we are working toward solar-powered Town buildings. We feel that Smithtown is the perfect home for Tesla.” – Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim
Tesla Senior Manager for Policy and Business Development Will Nicholas announced the opportunity to create some 25 new jobs and the opportunity to educate future generations in the field of alternative energy. The training program, which began in 2017 at Farmingdale State College, teaches students to work on zero-emissions vehicles. It also gives students a chance to earn job opportunities once they have graduated.
Tesla is in support of new legislation which would potentially allow the Smithtown location to become a showroom and dealership. If the legislation is successful, Tesla would be permitted to lift its 5 dealership cap. If successful, the Smithtown Tesla location would showcase more than its electric cars, featuring solar roof tiles and batteries. Tesla hopes to open the Smithtown location toward the end of 2018.