Niagara Falls is home to one of the more unusual manufacturing companies in Western New York — and it just became a great deal more relevant to national defense. Americarb Inc., a producer of carbon and graphite advanced composite materials at 6100 Niagara Falls Blvd., is embarking on a $29 million expansion that will nearly double its workforce and dramatically increase its production capacity for materials used in tactical missiles, hypersonic weapons, and aerospace propulsion systems.

The trigger for the expansion was a $12.6 million contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense under the Defense Production Act Title III, as part of a broader $33.5 million initiative to expand America's solid rocket motor industrial base. The contract, announced in fall 2025, funds Americarb to develop and scale up production of carbonized rayon phenolic (CRP) — a specialized high-temperature composite that forms the ablative lining in tactical missile nozzles, helping the nozzle survive the extreme heat of rocket motor combustion. WBEN reported the expansion announcement in November 2025, and the Niagara County IDA formally approved the accompanying tax incentive package the following month.

What Americarb Makes

Americarb (formerly known as Ashland Advanced Materials) has operated on Niagara Falls Boulevard for years, leveraging the region's abundant low-cost hydropower to run energy-intensive furnaces used in carbon fiber and graphite processing. The company converts woven rayon fabric through a series of chemical and heat treatment steps — including carbonization at extremely high temperatures — to produce high-performance composite materials. The resulting products find applications in aerospace propulsion, clean hydrogen production, and advanced defense systems.

The Pentagon's interest in Americarb is straightforward: CRP is a critical and strategically sensitive material, and domestic production capacity for it is limited. Expanding American industrial capacity for solid rocket motor components has become a defense priority as the U.S. military accelerates production of precision-guided munitions and hypersonic systems. Americarb's Niagara Falls location, with access to Niagara hydropower and an existing workforce trained in high-temperature composites manufacturing, made it a natural candidate for the DoD investment.

The Construction Program

The $29 million project involves both renovation of existing buildings and new construction. According to the NCIDA project summary filed in November 2025, the project budget breaks down as approximately $12 million for construction and equipment improvements, $4 million for property acquisition, and $1 million in soft costs, with the remainder covering equipment procurement. The construction scope includes refurbishing four existing buildings on the Niagara Falls Boulevard site and constructing a new 50,000-square-foot building to house expanded production capacity.

The expansion is designed to increase Americarb's heat treatment capacity by a factor of ten. The Niagara Gazette reported that Phase 1 construction is projected to be complete by October 2026, with the full expansion — including all equipment installation — finalized by September 2027.

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency approved a 15-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement, along with sales tax and mortgage recording tax abatements, totaling approximately $2.93 million in tax relief. Empire State Development is also being approached for additional incentive support through the Excelsior Jobs Program. The NCIDA's economic impact analysis estimated that the construction phase alone will generate 103 direct construction jobs and 46 indirect jobs, for a total of approximately 149 temporary positions.

Doubling the Workforce

Americarb currently employs approximately 40 people at the Niagara Falls plant. The expansion is expected to double that to roughly 80 workers within three years, with an estimated annual payroll for new jobs of approximately $2.8 million. Niagara County IDA Executive Director Andrea Klyczek noted in press coverage that Americarb's decision to expand in Niagara Falls — rather than relocate elsewhere — was materially influenced by the IDA's tax incentive package, describing it as a decisive swing factor.

This is the second expansion Americarb has executed in the past three years. In 2022, Empire State Development announced the company would invest $6 million in new machinery and equipment, adding 45 jobs, in response to growing demand for high-temperature composite materials from the clean hydrogen and aerospace sectors. More recently, the company has also been developing a recycled carbon fiber (rCF) strategy in partnership with Gen 2 Carbon, targeting clean energy applications.

A Pattern of Industrial Retention in Niagara County

Americarb's expansion is the largest in a recent cluster of manufacturing investments in Niagara County. WBEN reported in December 2025 that the county was simultaneously processing expansions from Americarb, Precision Industrial (relocating from Webster to North Tonawanda), and Allegheny Manufacturing (moving into a vacant former Niagara Fiberboard building in Lockport) — collectively representing more than $32 million in private investment and at least 55 new positions. The Niagara County Center for Economic Development has positioned the county's combination of low-cost hydropower, shovel-ready industrial sites, and proximity to both Buffalo and the Canadian border as competitive advantages for exactly this type of energy-intensive manufacturer.

For Western New York's construction sector, the Americarb project is a reminder that defense-driven industrial investment can generate meaningful near-term construction activity even on relatively tight timelines. With Phase 1 targeted for completion in just under 18 months from contract award, the project demonstrates how clearly scoped industrial expansions — with committed funding, IDA approvals, and a straightforward permitting profile — can move from announcement to active construction quickly.

Sources

• Niagara County IDA — Project Summary: Americarb (November 2025)
• WBEN — Niagara Falls Manufacturer Planning $29 Million Expansion (November 2025)
• Niagara Gazette via Yahoo Finance — NCIDA Approves Incentives for Americarb, Precision Industrial (December 2025)
• WBEN — Niagara County Welcoming Four New Expansion Projects (November 2025)
• WBEN — A Manufacturing Hat-Trick in Niagara County (December 2025)
• WNY Papers — ESD Announces Americarb Expansion (November 2022)