May 25, 2005: Two Years After Fire,
Fulton Tool Company Rebounding
FULTON, NY—Two years
ago, on May 18, Fulton Tool Company’s 45-year legacy was reduced
to rubble by a fire that tore through the facility and several shops
and businesses in the Schuyler Street Commons plaza on Fulton’s
west side. At the time of the fire, close to 15 people worked at
Fulton Tool Company.
The day following the fire, owners Bruce
Phelps and Peter Russell solicited the help of local economic development
agencies to help rebuild the business he started in 1959 in a business
incubator facility administered by the city of Fulton.
“We could have closed the business
then and there, or rebuilt the business somewhere else in the United
States--when we looked at the benefits of either option, it made
economical sense at the time,” Phelps said.
However, after considering several reconstruction
options both within the city of Fulton and outside, and being presented
with an incentive package developed by Operation Oswego County,
the Fulton Community Development Agency, the County of Oswego Industrial
Development Agency (IDA) and the city of Fulton, Phelps and Russell
purchased the 35,000 square foot former Oswego Wire building on
state Route 3 in Fulton in 2003. Since then, they have also renovated
and expanded Schuyler Street Commons and leased a 4,000 square foot
section of the Fulton Tool building that was not damaged by the
fire to JHL Supply, a specialty tool and HVAC product distribution
company and owners of CampingSurvival.com. Fulton Tool now utilizes
about 17,000 square feet of its current building and plans to lease
the remainder. The company now employs 18 people.
“The aggressive, pro-business attitude
of Mike Treadwell (of Operation Oswego County), Carol Rutledge (of
the Fulton CDA) and former city of Fulton Mayor Mike Stafford, convinced
us to stay in Fulton,” Phelps said.
To help rebuild the business, Fulton Tool
has received funding assistance from the IDA, employee training
assistance facilitated by the Workforce Development Board of Oswego
County and the Oswego County Department of Employment and Training,
and a low-cost power allocation of 12 kilowatts through the “Power
for Progress” program made available through a PILOT agreement
with Entergy Nuclear Northeast, owner of the FitzPatrick plant.
The company also received a grant from Niagara Mohawk to help install
energy efficient lighting for the new building.
“These services and financial incentives
have been extremely beneficial to us as we continue to build our
future in Fulton,” Phelps said.
“Bruce and Pete’s dedication
to their trade and to their community represents the spirit of Oswego
County’s small business owners. We are grateful that Fulton
Tool Company will remain one of Fulton’s most notable manufacturers,”
said L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, executive director of OOC.
According to Phelps, Fulton Tool Company,
a provider of precision machined parts and contract machining services,
is now operating with new, state-of-the-art, computer-controlled
precision CNC work centers which make the business more competitive
in the global market. The company specializes in the servo controller,
space, rotary compression and sporting goods industries.
“Unfortunately, we lost a large share
of our market during our downtime, so it’s been a struggle
to build our business back up. It is only now, more than a year
after we moved into this building, that we’ve had a good backlog
of business and we’re starting to feel comfortable again,”
he said.
Although global competition is fierce, Phelps
remains optimistic that Fulton Tool Company will carve its own niche
for success.
“Countries like China and India advertise
that they will manufacture tools for 40 percent less than U.S. manufacturers,
but they don’t do some of the work that we specialize in,
and that’s where we have the edge,” he said.
For more information about Fulton Tool Company,
call Phelps at (315) 598-2900, or visit www.fultontool.com.
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