NIAGARA FALLS — Did New York state have competition from Indiana when it decided to supply a firm with $700,000 as part of a move from Niagara Falls to the Town of Tonawanda?

After receiving a response to a freedom of information request, state Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-Lewiston, isn’t so sure.

Ceretto sent a letter this week to Empire State Development Corp. President and CEO Kenneth Adams, asking for a meeting to discuss the agency’s involvement in a deal that resulted in Unifrax Corp. relocating from its building on Whirlpool Street to new confines in Tonawanda. New York economic development officials had previously suggested $700,000 in public assistance offered to the company was needed for the state to compete with offers from Indiana.

Ceretto’s office sent a freedom of information request to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. seeking “all documents, records, phone logs and emails” pertaining to Unifrax, the city of Niagara Falls, the Empire State Development Corp. and any incentive programs that may have been offered to the company by Indiana’s lead development agency. On Tuesday, Ceretto said the response received by his office indicated that “no records containing the terms of a final offer of public financial resources to Unifrax.”

Although Ceretto’s office acknowledged that Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act exempts IEDC negotiations from disclosure, Ceretto said he was expecting to see “proof” that New York was facing competition from the Hoosier State.

“The public record from Indiana call into question Empire State Development’s assertion and begs the question of what exactly happened,” Ceretto said. “The people of Niagara Falls deserve answers. They deserve better than to read in the paper, after it’s a done deal, about another corporation leaving the city and they certainly deserve to know why New York state footed the $700,000 bill.”

 ESD officials maintain that the $700,000 in state assistance was needed to prevent Unifrax from leaving New York altogether. The agency noted that Unifrax has an existing facility in Carlisle, Ind. and company officials considered nearby South Bend as a “competitive region” for an expansion project. ESD officials said Unifrax, in its statement of need to the agency, indicated that it was seeking help through Indiana’s Headquarters Relocation Tax Credit and Industrial Development Grant Fund, which offered a credit of up to 50 percent of the cost of relocation.

ESD officials said Unifrax approached their agency on May 24 to discuss three potential options: Relocating its entire Falls operation to Tonawanda; relocating 33 jobs from the Falls to South Bend; or transferring all Falls operations to Indiana. ESD maintains that the $700,000 from Empire State Development helped convince Unifrax officials to select option No. 1 — the move to Tonawanda.

ESD officials indicated that during a follow-up meeting held on July 6, Unifrax representatives determined that the Niagara Falls facility did not provide sufficient space, or efficient expansion options, and would be pursuing other options. Empire State Development spokesperson Laura Magee noted that her agency’s involvement in the project ultimately helped keep 96 Unifrax jobs in Western New York.

“If not for the efforts of the state, nearly 100 good-paying jobs would have been lost to Indiana,” Magee said. “Empire State Development is pleased we were able to keep these jobs in Western New York and prevent a vital company from leaving New York state.”

Unifrax spokesperson Virginia Cantera was out of the office and unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

Katelyn Hancock, senior manager for media relations with the Indiana Economic Development Corp., declined to comment on any specifics regarding Unifrax or the FOIL request from Ceretto’s office.

“We talk to a lot of companies about locating and growing in Indiana,” Hancock said. “Out of respect for companies, all discussions are confidential until we have completed negotiations and have a final acceptance from them.”

Ceretto said he has called for a meeting with Adams in hopes of further clarifying the nature of talks between Empire State and Unifrax. He is receiving support in his effort from Democratic City Council Chairman Sam Fruscione.

“Losing Unifrax was a blow to our city,” Fruscione said. “These were good-paying jobs that will now benefit the tax rolls of Erie County and the Town of Tonawanda.”

In a letter delivered to Adams in October, Ceretto voiced similar concerns about the Unifrax deal and called for greater communication between the state agency and state lawmakers representing Niagara Falls and Niagara County in the future. He said he sent a follow-up letter in an effort to renew the call for increased cooperation because he believes Adams’ agency should be more forthcoming with information about projects, especially when jobs are on the line.

“The end goal is to bring jobs to Niagara Falls and make sure that if there’s any discussions about jobs leaving Niagara Falls that we do everything we can to keep them here,” Ceretto said. “I want to keep jobs here. I’m sick and tired of jobs leaving Niagara Falls. It shouldn’t have happened. It just bothers me.”