Mangano Names Plainview Company “Business of the Month”

Kicking off a new initiative, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano recognized Plainview’s Cox and Company as Nassau’s first “Business of the Month”. President and COO Steve Landry hosted a tour of the factory and was presented with an official citation by Mangano.

Cox and Company, which designs and manufactures temperature control and ice protection systems for commercial, military, and private aircraft, employs 160 employees at its site, in areas including design and engineering. The company is fairly new to Plainview, having been based in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village since it was founded by Duncan Cox in 1944. Four years ago, they began to seek out locations to move to and considering several sites in the metropolitan area, including Connecticut, New Jersey, and even Pennsylvania.

The Nassau County Office of Economic Development stepped in and as Landry says, “lured us to Nassau, where we’re very happy to be.” Executive Director of the Business Development Unit Evette Beckett-Tuggle said they worked hard to persuade Cox and Company that Nassau is the place for a business like theirs. “Our office works with small companies, especially those looking to expand and provide information about incentives like utility discounts. Our goal is to attract and retain those companies that are so important for the county.”

Cox and Company is different from many other businesses in that it is 100 percent employee owned, something that Landry says makes the company a lot like a family. When they moved to Nassau, he says, “some of our employees were concerned about their new commutes, so we decided to provide shuttles from the Hickville train station to any employees making a commute by train.”

Mangano spoke about how Cox and Company, “is a growing company, especially in technology and manufacturing, which is exactly what Nassau needs.” He went on to say that, “businesses like them are the lifeblood of our local economy.” Landry said that the company has settled nicely in Nassau and that when they found the building, a site formerly associated with Steel Equities, it was in a “state of disrepair and which gave us the opportunity to build exactly according to what was optimal for us.”

Landry guided guests through an extensive tour, including an explanation of their renowned LeClerc Icing Research Lab, which is the home of the Cox Icing Wind Tunnel. This testing facility, one of only four in the United States, has the ability to simulate any manner of weather conditions that planes may encounter, like sleet, ice, or rain.

At the close of the tour, Mangano thanked Cox and Company again and congratulated them on being the county’s first Business of the Month. As he put it, “they’re a great company with an excellent business model and I’m thrilled that they’re right here in Plainview.”