Pet company to bring Schenectady up to 20 jobs

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Denise Pallozzi, CEO of pet travel company Furlocity, speaks earlier today about the company, which is moving from San Diego to the New York BizLab on State Street.

Pet travel company Furlocity is preparing to move from San Diego into office space on State Street in Schenectady and create up to 20 new jobs.

Furlocity, founded in 2012 by Andy and Amber Smit, is a national website www.furlocity.com that offers pet owners the option to board their animals when going out of town or to find a pet-friendly hotel to take their pets on vacation.

Denise Fernandez Pallozzi, Furlocity CEO, entered into an eight-year lease at the New York BizLab at 251 State St. to operate the business and hire as many as 20 employees by the end of 2019.

The company will look to hire individuals with skills in marketing, sales, software development and social media, Pallozzi said. Furlocity now has three full-time employees and plans to move to the city by the end of January, she said.

“We decided to make some changes in management strategy and geographic location,” said Pallozzi, who became CEO earlier this year. “We moved from San Diego to New York to take advantage of Start-Up NY.”

Start-Up is the state’s business tax incentive program. It offers tax breaks to qualified companies that move to the state and partner with a local college — in this case Schenectady County Community College.

Furlocity enables people to search, compare and book a pet-friendly hotel or boarding location.

“We have access to 42,000 pet-friendly hotels because we have a relationship with Priceline,” Pallozzi said. “We are growing organically and increasing our footprint. We work with 275 boarding facilities nationwide.”

As the company grows, Pallozzi said she plans to expand Furlocity’s services to include pet grooming, pet sitting and pet walking.

“When you drop off the pet, they ask you if you would like them groomed or to do a daily pet walking, or play with other pets or choose to be isolated,” she said. “It’s easy to add those options because pet boarding typically offers those services.”

Pallozzi said the original plan was to move Furlocity into space at Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush. The company also was pursued by the cities of Rensselaer and Troy as well as Schenectady.

Pallozzi said she ultimately chose the Electric City because it was the only municipality that had a program in place to successfully attract businesses.

“Of all the packages being offered, the one offered by Schenectady was the most comprehensive and really serves the best interests of the company in the long term,” she said. “It was a coordinated effort, and I have not seen that in any municipality. If it wasn’t for that comprehensive approach, we wouldn’t be here.”

Furlocity also received a $45,000 grant from the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority to cover the company’s lease for one year.

Pallozzi said Furlocity’s employees are working remotely until they can move into the 3,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the BizLab.

“I will be putting a fold-up table here and start working soon,” she said. “I have had the opportunity to see Schenectady evolve, and it’s the growth and revival that is amazing. It’s very impressive.”