MASSENA -- The general manager of a private label manufacturer and distributor of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products was preparing to expand his operation and double its number of employees this fall.

But those plans suddenly changed in mid-June when the private equity firm that purchased Purinepharma in November announced plans to close its manufacturing facility in Massena and centralize its operations.

That plan was executed in the third week of July, and the Purinepharma manufacturing facility, which had 32 employees this spring, closed its doors.

Venkat Kakani, the general manager at the manufacturing facility located in the former Alcoa laboratory at 5 County Route 42, said he switched gears from working on an expansion to focusing on finding a way to keep the plant open from the day he first learned of the owner's plans for its Massena location.

The Massena facility specializes in the manufacture of over-the-counter liquid nasal, allergy and cough and cold products for retail clients in the United States and abroad as well as the packaging and repackaging of solid dose pharmaceuticals.

The Massena plant distributes pharmaceutical products to popular retail customers with stores in the North Country and around the United States as well as to the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Kakani said a new company, Kingston Pharma, LLC, took over the assets and operations of the Massena pharmaceutical plant this week.

He said Kingston Pharma has signed a three-year exclusive manufacturing agreement with a company to continue to supply the products that had been manufactured in the North Country.

"We also have the opportunity to develop more products and expand our markets," according to the Kingston Pharma, LLC, chief executive officer.

"It's a win-win situation. We are providing our customer with a quality product at a price that makes sense for them from a business perspective and it means a lot to all the employees that put their hearts and souls into building this business over the past three plus years," he said.

He said the strong support of local and state officials helped them re-open the Massena plant.

"This would not have been possible without the assistance and intervention of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell, Mayor Timmy J. Currier and other elected officials," Kakani said.

Kakani said his employees were initially skeptical when he told them he was going to work to save their jobs, but he said he gained their confidence after Assemblywoman Russell toured the facility just a few days after the former owners announced their plans to shut down the plant.

"Assemblywoman Russell helped a lot. They were not sure until they saw Assemblywoman Russell in the plant. I saw how happy they were to see she had some understanding of our operation and was supportive of our plan. I saw their confidence in my plan grow after her visit," he said.

The assemblywoman said she has found being hands on gives her the understanding she needs to make informed decisions in Albany as well as to assist her constituents from businesses and agencies to schools and local governments.

"The tour of the manufacturing facility and my conversation with Kankati showed me this operation had a strong leader with a vision for future growth and a quality workforce. It was clear we needed to support Kankati in his efforts. I think there is great potential for the workforce to become much larger at this facility in the coming months and years," she said.

The assemblywoman said the Kingston Pharma success story is proof that positives occur when state, county and local officials join forces.

Kakani said Currier's letter supporting his proposal to keep the manufacturing facility in Massena open under new ownership was the first correspondence to reach the former owner's board of directors.

Currier said it wasn't difficult to pen a letter of support for Kakani's proposal. He indicated he was delighted earlier this week when Kakai informed him the Massena facility would be reopening under new ownership but with the same staff.

"This is wonderful news for Massena and the North Country that Kingston Pharma has taken over operations and will maintain them here," he said. "Kakani's efforts to continue business operations here in Massena demonstrated his strong commitment to their employees and this community."

"Kingston Pharma is an example of how we can diversify our economy. When the private sector is supported by the public sector and we work cooperatively at every level, we can demonstrate success that creates jobs and moves our economy away from a narrow reliance on any particular industry or sector," Mayor Currier added.

Kakani said he also received tremendous cooperation from the St. Lawrence County IDA as he worked to keep the manufacturing facility operating in Massena.

He said he received support from IDA CEO Patrick Kelly and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Thomas Plastino during the transition from PurinePharma to Kingston Pharma.

The St. Lawrence County IDA provided a loan package to PurinePharma for $250,000 - $125,000 from the River Valley Redevelopment Agency and $125,000 from the North CountryAlliance - when they first started in Massena in early 2014.

"When they were acquired in 2015, we worked with the existing plant management staff and Venkat to try to convince the new company to keep and possibly even expand their Massena operations. When they chose to close the facility, we worked with Venkat to help him create the new company to do contract manufacturing in Massena for a customer. We are pleased that this is now happening, and we are working with Kingston Pharma to help them now grow and succeed in Massena," Kelly said.

Kakani said he has grown to love the North Country since moving here from New Jersey in 2012 to open the pharmaceutical plant in Massena.

"I definitely see an opportunity here to grow our business as well as help our community. I didn't want this community to lose the opportunity to have those jobs here," he said. "It is my personal belief business is not just bricks and mortar. It's the people that make our businesses. Our obligation is not to ignore the human consideration," he stressed.

"I believe entrepreneurship is hollow without social and human considerations. That belief brought me to wage this fight. It was a tough time - there were a lot of parties involved, but we were able to convince people that everybody was winning with this deal," Kakani said.

He noted seven employees are in the plant this week, and he expects to bring back an additional eight or nine people by the first of October.

"My hope is we can have all 32 employees back by October or November and start adding new jobs in the first and second quarters of 2017," Kakani said.