A large parcel of land that for years stood lifeless at the site of former Grumman defense manufacturing operations in Bethpage will soon be home to a well-known, global food product company.

Goya Foods, Inc. has begun building a 157,000 square-foot warehouse and distribution center on 16 acres of land there, marking the latest in a series of developments that are gradually revitalizing the property. Construction of the facility is expected to be complete by spring of 1999, and public officials close to the plan have said it will initially employ 110 people.

At a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday, several lawmakers hailed the project as a turning point in the local economy.

"This is an exciting time for Bethpage," said Assemblyman Marc Herbst (R-Hicksville, 14 A.D.), who represents Bethpage. He noted that alongside the arrival of such diverse entities as Briarcliffe College, Lily Popcorn and the Robert Plan insurance company to the site, Goya fits in well with a long-term development strategy for the former defense manufacturing hub. "The idea is to have a diversified site," he said.

At its peak, Grumman employed tens of thousands of Long Islanders at its Bethpage aerospace plant. Prompted by the decline of the defense industry that was caused by the end of the Cold War, the company ceased its operations during the late 1980s. In 1994, Grumman merged with another aerospace company, Northrop. Northrop-Grumman immediately began selling portions of the 500 acres of land it acquired through the deal, with plans to keep only 125 acres for its continuing aerospace operations, which currently employs about 3,000 people.

The downsizing caused not only a loss of jobs and a negative impact on local businesses, but also a substantial tax revenue loss. As a result of a tax rebate granted to Grumman after the shutdown, Bethpage School District lost over $4 million.

The new Goya facility will help reverse these effects, however, according to State Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City, 6 S.D.) who also represents Bethpage. "It's symbolic of a turning point that we're going to bring back jobs here, that we're going to bring back tax revenue to the school district, and we're going to bring back stimulus to the local economy," he said.

Nassau County Legislator Edward P. Mangano (R-Bethpage, 17 L.D.), who also represents the area, said he expects the number of employees at the facility to increase from 110 to 200 within its second year of operation. "It represents a rebirth on the Grumman property," he said, "a return of jobs, a creation of new jobs, and a new tax base to help offset the loss in jobs that was created when the defense industry left this site."

U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato, who, like the state lawmakers at the ceremony, is up for re-election in November, called the project part of a "renaissance" in New York's economy. "This state, we have seen jobs leaving for all too long, and now we see jobs coming back," he said, adding, "This is a harbinger of great things to come," and, "It means hope. It means economic development for this region."

Goya started as a small business in New York City in 1936, when Prudencio Unanue and his wife Carolina Casal began importing and distributing olive oil, olives and canned sardines. It maintained a distribution center in Brooklyn until the late 1970s, when local ordinances prohibited it from expanding the building to suit its needs, according to Rafael Toro, a spokesperson for the company. It then moved to Secaucus, New Jersey, where its current headquarters remain. Toro noted that the company, which now employs approximately 2,000 people globally, decided to expand to Bethpage in order to more efficiently deliver its line of beans, rice, tropical nectars and other food items to Long Island supermarkets. "We wanted to better serve our customers in the Long Island area, so we wanted to come to the Nassau County area," he said.

The family business was given incentives to locate on the Grumman property, such as a state Economic Development Corporation grant and the opportunity to purchase low-cost power from an electrical power plant at the site. However, Toro said location was the determining factor in the company's decision to break ground there. "We were offered the same incentives elsewhere," he said, "We came here basically because it was the right area. The incentives helped, but we would have gotten them elsewhere." The new employment at the Bethpage distribution center, he noted, will consist of trucking, warehouse and office jobs.