|
Economic
Development Newsletter
Quarter 2, 2008 (April-June):
Download
this newsletter
This newsletter is partially
funded by Operation Oswego County Foundation, Inc. and our economic
development supporters.
New Members Elected
to OOC Board
At its recent 56th annual meeting, the Operation
Oswego County (OOC) board of directors elected Ann Gilpin, president
and CEO of Oswego Health, Daniel Murphy, senior economic developer
with National Grid, Ken Sherman of Sherman Vincent Associates and
Peter Cullinan, emergency planning manager for Entergy to the board.
The OOC board of directors also recognized
out-going president George Joyce, president of Laser Transit, Ltd.,
for providing two terms of distinguished service and valuable assistance
in furthering economic development, job growth, capital investment
and business expansion in Oswego County.
The board re-elected board members Ronald
Darrow, retired, Sherwin-Williams; William Galloway, owner, Century-21
Galloway Realty; Paul Kurtzman, executive director, Oswego Industries;
Louis Pettinelli, retired, Oswego County BOCES; Bruce Phelps, owner,
Fulton Tool Company; Lloyd (Buddy) Stemple, vice president and general
manager, Novelis; and Steven Thomas, commercial real estate developer.
The new slate of officers elected to the
board includes Nancy Bellow, director of SUNY Oswego’s Office
of Business and Community Relations, as president; Steven Thomas
as vice president; Michael Pollock, president of Fulton Savings
Bank, as treasurer; and Alan Horna, general manager and CFO of Oswego
Wire, Inc., as secretary.
Back
to Top
OOC Marketing
Materials Recognized
OOC was recently recognized with two honorable
mention citations for its electronic newsletter and its 2006 Annual
Report by the New York State Economic Development Council’s
(NYSEDC) 2008 marketing and promotional materials award competition.
The recognitions are awarded each year to
NYSEDC member organizations throughout New York State who produce
printed materials and Internet media to promote economic development
in their areas. OOC has won several awards in past years for the
effectiveness and quality of its advertising and promotional materials
from NYSEDC and other regional and national professional development
organizations.
Back to Top
OOC Business
Assistance:
Operation Oswego County offers an array
of business services to both new and expanding companies throughout
the county.
-
Branches Tree Service in Fulton will provide
tree service to residential and commercial property owners in
the Central NY area. The owners are Micro-Enterprise Program
graduates;
-
The Oswego YMCA will expand its fitness center
by relocating it to the former Armory building and will acquire
new equipment. The building will undergo renovations, boiler
improvements and lighting improvements. The project received
funding assistance from the IDA;
-
Affordable Home Inventory is a new, woman-owned
business that uses photography, digital recording, and cataloguing
for property in case of theft, catastrophe, or insurance claim.
The owner is a graduate of the Micro-Enterprise Training Program.
Funding for the project was provided by the IDA; and
-
Pathfinder Industries, manufacturer of precision
sheet metal and machined parts in Fulton, will acquire a new
machining center and equipment needed to address increased customer
demand. The project will create seven jobs and will receive
funding from the IDA and Fulton Community Development Agency.
Back to Top
WDB Develops Career
Exploration Website
The Workforce Board of Oswego County launched
a new website,
www.oswegocareerladders.com, to assist job seekers and students
explore career opportunities within Oswego County.
The site features career paths in the four
industry clusters that the WDB identified as being crucial to the
economic well-being of the county--energy, manufacturing, health
care and hospitality.
Development of the website was funded from
a number of sources including contributions from New York State
Department of Labor, Entergy, Alliance Bank, Pathfinder Bank, Operation
Oswego County and IBEW Local 43.
Back to Top
Achievement
Awards, Annual Activity Summary Presented at OOC’s Annual
Meeting
Operation Oswego County recently held its
56th annual meeting at the SUNY Oswego Campus Center.
Key note presenter Tim Barry, senior vice
president for O’Brien & Gere, spoke about the master plan
for energy asset management and development at Riverview Business
Park in the town of Volney. The plan will analyze existing energy
assets, project future needs and opportunities, and quantify and
qualify possible solutions with an emphasis on renewable and innovative
technologies. National Grid awarded $134,389 to OOC to contract
with O’Brien & Gere to conduct the study.
George Joyce, former president of the OOC
board of directors, reported that in 2007, projects assisted by
OOC resulted in the creation or retention of 309 jobs with over
$49 million in capital investment and 62 new, expanded or retained
facilities.
-
Allison Duggan, M.D. acquired and will renovate
a 2,874 square foot building in the city of Oswego in order
to expand her general surgery practice. The $314,000 project
was funded by the IDA, a Small Business Administration (SBA)
504 loan through OOC, and Pathfinder Bank;
-
Bosco & Geers Food Market, in the city
of Oswego, expanded its retail grocery store 2,000 square feet
to include additions to its meat, deli and bakery areas. The
$750,000 project created 10 jobs and was funded by the IDA,
a SBA 504 loan through OOC, HSBC and the Oswego CDO;
-
Huhtamaki in Fulton invested $5.7 million
in capital improvement projects including new production equipment,
equipment upgrades and building improvements. The plant is located
in the Fulton EZ and received discounted power from the Power
for Progress program;
-
Kinney Pharmacy relocated to an 11,598 square-foot
new facility in the city of Fulton. The $2.5 million project
retained 34 jobs and received funding from the IDA and Fulton
Savings Bank;
-
Linde’s BOC liquefaction plant in Volney
will process 600 tons of C02 per day from Northeast Biofuels
for sale to major food and beverage company customers. The $14
million project in the Fulton EZ will create 20 jobs;
-
Northeast Biofuels: construction continued
on the 114 million gallons-per-year corn to ethanol project
in the town of Volney. The IDA assisted the project in the Fulton
EZ. Production is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2008.
In addition, Rep. John McHugh secured a grant from the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development that was
used to help finance the improvement of rail access at NEB;
-
Novelis in Scriba invested $9 million for
a new furnace to improve efficiencies by reducing a two-step
process to one. Twenty jobs were added to the Oswego EZ plant;
-
Riccelli Enterprises acquired the former Crysteel
facility in the town of Volney and will provide transportation
and warehousing services for the Riverview Business Park complex.
The $2.5 million project was assisted by the IDA and will create
30-35 jobs; and
-
River House Restaurant is a new 3,500-square-foot,
124-seat facility located in the village of Pulaski. The $1
million project created 32 jobs and received funding assistance
from the IDA, a SBA 504 loan through OOC, NYBDC and Community
Bank.
The Ally Award for 2008 was presented to
the Port of Oswego Authority, recognizing it as
an “ally” organization in the economic development process
in Oswego County. The Port was recognized for moving more than one
million tons of cargo through its terminals from April 2007 through
March 2008, for the completion of several expansion projects including
a $1.1 million reconstruction of a bulk storage building and a $175,000
rehabilitation of the west wharf for salt storage, and for initiating
the rehabilitation of the port’s rail infrastructure and the
development of a new maintenance facility.
The Business Excellence Award for 2008 was
presented to Novelis for investing more than $30
million in equipment over the past three years resulting in new
job growth, for a recent $9 million investment to install an energy-efficient
aluminum melting furnace which enabled the addition of a new production
line and a ten percent increase in production and for consistently
being one of the largest private employers in Oswego County by employing
more than 700.
The 2008 Jobs Award, recognizing significant
capital investment as well as job creation and retention, was presented
to Kinney Drugs, Inc. for its continued commitment
to locate its pharmacy and retail stores throughout Oswego County
and for employing more than 200 employees.
Pat Jones was the recipient
of OOC’s Dee Heckethorn Entrepreneur Award. Jones was recognized
for his exceptional efforts, risks and initiatives he has taken
to help foster economic activity to Oswego County through his role
in the development of the Sithe Independence Station power generation
facility in the town of Scriba in 1994, the expansion of log and
lumbering manufacturer Great Lakes Veneer in Oswego, for his involvement
in locating Sure-Lock Industries to Oswego in 2004, and for opening
Patz on the River in the Oswego harbor.
Thomas Weatherup was honored
with the 2008 Martin Rose Economic Developer Merit Award for playing
a critical role in building the economy and quality of life in Central
Square for the last 50 years by developing commercial property to
attract many prominent businesses to the area, for helping to bring
medical services to the community by developing and donating property
to the Central Square Health Center and the Southern Oswego County
Ambulance Service, for developing high-quality residential housing
communities, and for serving his community as town of Hastings supervisor
and assessor, and as a member of several volunteer organizations.
Back to Top
|
