GARDINER � It's a signal business success story for our region: a firm that began in a blacksmith shop in Ellenville back in 1928, then migrated over the Shawangunks to Walden in 1942 and became a farm equipment welding service, has since grown into a world leader in the manufacture of tank trucks. Now that business is relocating to the industrial park in Gardiner, thus returning to Ulster County after half a century in Orange County

. The company is Amthor International, still known locally as Amthor Welding, and a fixture in Walden for 50 years.

"We're the largest North American manufacturer of tank trucks," says Brian Amthor, great grandson of blacksmith and company-founder Ed Amthor, and the head of marketing and sales at Amthor International."

The move to Gardiner represents "something we've wanted to do for 20 years � get everything under one roof."

Amthor found the Gardiner site ready and Ulster County receptive. "We found a facility there that had all the existing approvals we need to operate our company. Plus, the process was really easy. We worked with Ulster County IDA, and Walden Federal, and it went quickly too. We were able to close on the property on July 15."

Amthor was impressed with Ulster IDA. "They were exceptional. They went above and beyond for us. What they've done for us will definitely help us grow in the new location."

Brian Amthor's parents, Butch and Alice Amthor, oversaw the transformation of the welding business into a much larger company selling custom made tank trucks. They took over the company in 1976, and during the '80s, took the business to new heights with innovative marketing methods.

"In the '80s," says Brian Amthor, "we became the number one distributor of the tanks that we sold."

Today, Amthor International is all about trucks and tanks. Any kind of tank, any kind of big truck, they will fit them together for you.

Along the way, 1992 stands out. "That was a huge year for us," says Brian Amthor. "We opened our factory in Virginia, and that was the best move we could have made."

The factory was a 47,000 square foot facility in the town of Gretna, where they turned out tank trucks of every description.

Asked why they chose Virginia instead of New York, Amthor is unapologetic. "Local government here at that time wasn't ready for us. Virginia was just more friendly to us than New York. Plus, we had a larger work force to draw on in that location. I should add that Virginia has been the number one state for business in the last few years."

Six years later, with the business expanding fast, Amthor put up an addition to the Gretna plant to expand their propane tanker truck line.

By that point they had become the industry leader in North America. Brian Amthor then became head of the marketing and public relations side, while his brother David became general manager.

While the Virginia end of the business was able to expand under one roof, the New York end, still headquartered in Walden, was not. They had operations in several locations, which produced costs and delays.

Early on in the new millennium, they tried to move all their operations to the town of Shawangunk, to a location just south of the village of Wallkill. However, as John Valk, Supervisor of the Town of Shawangunk, says, "It was in my second term as supervisor, and unfortunately some of the neighbors scared them off."

Shawangunk's loss eventually became Gardiner's gain.

Assisting in the process was the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency. CEO Lance Matteson says, "Amthor is the salt-of-the-earth, family business that is exactly the kind of company that anyone would want to welcome into their community. They're a very hard-working outfit, very up to date, and they are also very community-minded and sensitive to community impact issues."

The IDA found a bonding source for Amthor and also some tax incentives. "We want to see them grow," says Matteson.

Matteson also has praise for the Town of Gardiner.

"Gardiner did a terrific job of having a user-friendly permit process, in my opinion. And, the Industrial Park there is the right place for this kind of business, it's zoned appropriately, and the company is prepared to live with the rules regarding noise and so on."

And so how does Brian Amthor feel about achieving the dream of bringing all the New York operations under one roof?

"It's like we're finally reaching the light at the end of the tunnel. We are just really happy with this.

"We expect to be in there by mid-November. Things are starting to steamroll now," he says. "Then, we want to have a hard opening in January, once things have calmed down a little bit."