A start-up software company founded in Syracuse’s Tech Garden eight years ago unveiled its downtown manufacturing facility Tuesday, just a few blocks from where it all started. Density set up shop in the Whitlock Building, on Clinton Street near the Salt City Market. As the name implies, the company uses sensors and software to count the people coming and going from a building and places within the building. Customers pay a subscription for the data the sensors provide. Vice President of Operations Garrett Bastable said Syracuse is the ideal place to grow.
“What will be researched, developed, built, and shipped from this facility will reach customers across the globe. In fact, Density is already shipping tens of thousands of devices to over 40 countries and counting,” Bastable said. “While we’re always evaluating which options are best for our company, it feels like the obvious choice is to remain and grow in Syracuse.”
He said the new facility expands its production capacity by seven times to nearly 400,000 sensors a year. Density has grown rapidly and is now valued at just over $1 billion . It’s the first so-called “unicorn” to come out of the tech garden, which is operated by Centerstate CEO. President Rob Simpson couldn’t be prouder.
“It’s the exclamation point on 15 years of concerted effort to prove to people that you can build billion-dollar companies right here in Syracuse, New York,” Simpson said.
Density plans to eventually locate offices, labs, warehouse space, and shipping and receiving operations all within the Whitlock Building. The company has 200 employees in 29 states and eight countries and has numerous job openings. Mayor Ben Walsh said Density is a perfect example of the growth he’s seeking for the southern end of downtown, and his signature development strategy.
“By investing intentionally blocks from the Tech Garden in a part of the community that is growing but is proximate to additional areas of need where there are people who will benefit from having accessible jobs, that is the Syracuse Surge,” Walsh said.
Density’s facility complements other recent development nearby. The Salt City Marketnext door opened just over a year ago. And JMA Wireless is opening its manufacturing plant several blocks south any day now.
