June 24, 2005: Economic Development
Highlights, Awards Mark OOC’s Annual Meeting
OSWEGO, NY-- Operation Oswego
County held its 53rd annual meeting at the Captain’s Steak
and Seafood Restaurant in Oswego, Friday, June 24.
George Joyce, president of the Operation
Oswego County (OOC) board of directors, emphasized the continuing
significance of the manufacturing sector to Oswego County’s
economy as well as initiatives in marketing and workforce development.
“As we look to the future, Operation
Oswego County’s efforts will continue to focus on helping
to make our existing businesses more competitive, helping to facilitate
investment and job creation/retention of our manufacturing base,
and continuing to promote and develop strategic initiatives to compete
for and attract new employers to our county,” Joyce said.
In 2004, projects assisted by OOC resulted
in the creation or retention of 493 jobs with over $65 million in
capital investment and 65 new, expanded or retained facilities.
L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, executive director
for OOC, outlined a number of top economic development highlights
for 2004, noting that OOC provided assistance to numerous projects
including:
- Novelis Corp. (Alcan)
invested more than $18 million for a tension leveler project and
casting center expansion. The projects were assisted by Empire
State Development grant funding of $700,000 facilitated by OOC;
- Oswego County National
Bank expanded and relocated its headquarters to the former
IBEW facility in Oswego and invested over $3 million;
- Sure-Lock Industries, LLC
of Red Creek relocated its hardwood flooring business to a 60,000-square-foot
building within the Oswego Warehousing compound on East Seneca
Street in the city of Oswego. The $1.4 million project created
16 jobs. The project was funded by the County of Oswego Industrial
Development Agency (IDA), Oswego Community Development Office
(CDO), a New York State Senate grant secured by Sen. James Wright,
HSBC, Niagara Mohawk, and the Central New York Regional Planning
and Development Board;
- EJ Spirtas Group of St.
Louis, MO purchased the former International Paper facility located
on Mitchell St. in Oswego. The company plans to redevelop and
market the lake-front property which includes 55 acres with 164,000
square feet of warehouse space, a 16,000-square-foot office building,
and plans to demolish a 450,000-square-foot, two-story manufacturing
facility;
- Northeast Biofuels, LLC
initiated the acquisition of a 90-acre subdivision of Riverview
Business Park in Volney for a 100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol
production facility. The multi-million dollar project will include
retrofitting approximately 300,000 square feet of the existing
building and the construction of two grain silos and one cooling
tower. The project is expected to create 60 jobs;
- Lowe’s home
improvement store opened a 133,600-squarefoot facility in Oswego
creating 170 jobs. Lowe’s is the second-largest home improvement
retailer in the world with more than 1,025 stores in 45 states;
- Matangi Motels, LLC
acquired the Days Inn in the city of Oswego. The 44-room motel
is in the process of being upgraded through building renovations
and new furniture and fixtures. The project created 15 jobs. Funding
for the $1.6 million project was provided by the Oswego CDO, Oswego
County National Bank, County of Oswego IDA and an SBA 504 loan
through OOC;
- Modheshwari Motels, LLC
acquired and will renovate the former Thomas Inn in the city of
Oswego which has been franchised as a Scottish Inn. Renovations
to the 47-room motel will include new furniture and fixtures.
The $1.3 million project created 13 jobs and received funding
assistance from the Oswego CDO, Oswego County National Bank, County
of Oswego IDA and an SBA 504 loan through OOC;
- North Shore Powder Coating
and Metal Fabrication of Constantia is a new business
that specializes in metal fabricating, custom liquid painting
and powder coating. The owner is a graduate of the Micro-Enterprise
Training Program and received funding from the County of Oswego
IDA. The project will create six jobs;
- Jake’s Automotive
is a new automotive repair business in Oswego. The project received
financial assistance from a SBA 504 loan through OOC, Oswego CDO
and Pathfinder Bank. The business created four new jobs;
- An initiative of U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, a new border patrol station has been
constructed in the city of Oswego. The facility represents an
investment of $2 million in the community and is expected to be
completed by the end of the year;
- As a result of being awarded Ben and Jerry’s
packaging business in 2004, Huhtamaki Consumer Packaging
expanded its operations and hired an additional 60 employees.
The transition of the business to Fulton included a $1.1million
project to provide production tooling and equipment necessary
to manufacture the product. The project received financial assistance
from a New York State grant secured by Sen. James Wright, the
County of Oswego IDA and the Fulton Community Development Agency;
- Canal Commons is a revitalization
project in downtown Oswego which involves the acquisition and
renovation of 30,000 square feet for approximately 10 shops. Forty-five
jobs will be created. Funding for the project was provided by
the County of Oswego IDA, Oswego CDO and First Niagara Bank;
- Empire Fresh-Cuts, LLC,
opened its new 27,000-square-foot onion processing plant in the
town of Oswego. The $3.6 million project created more than 30
jobs. Financing was provided by County of Oswego IDA, SBA 504
loans through OOC, Empire State Development, New York Business
Development Corporation and CNY Enterprise Development Corporation;
- Northern Oswego County Health
Services, Inc. expanded its Pulaski Health Center facility
to improve the quality and accessibility of primary care, specialty
services and dental services. NOCHSI currently employs 80 and
served over 11,000 patients for a total of 37,000 annual visits
last year. Funding for the project was assisted by the County
of Oswego IDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture;
- Winter Harbor LLC, a
heated boat storage facility in Hastings, built a 40,000-square-foot
building to be used for boat storage, painting and repairs. The
project received financial assistance from the County of Oswego
IDA, SBA 504 loan through OOC and Solvay Bank. The expansion will
create 28 jobs; and
- New York Chocolate & Confections
Company: an $850,000 HUD 108 loan was approved with assistance
from OOC to acquire four new refiners which will be integral to
expanding chocolate production capacity at the Fulton plant.
In addition to announcing the 2004 economic
impact summary and recognizing top development projects, three business
organizations and a well-known development leader and public servant
were honored for significant contributions to economic development
and job creation in Oswego County.
The Ally Award for 2005 was presented to
Empire State Development, recognizing it as an
"ally" organization in the economic development process
in Oswego County. Over the last 10 years, ESD has provided funding
assistance of more than $6 million which has helped deliver more
than $74 million in private sector capital investment while enabling
job creation and retention of over 2,000 jobs at businesses including
Birds Eye Foods, Black Clawson, Crysteel, Empire Fresh-Cuts, Great
Lakes Veneer, Huhtamaki, Interface Solutions, Novelis Corp. and
Spear USA.
The Business Excellence Award for 2005 was
presented to Oswego County National Bank for its
significant financial support of small business development, for
its investment in the community by expanding to include seven branches
including five in Oswego County, for significant company growth
which necessitated the relocation and expansion of its corporate
headquarters and investment of more than $3 million to reutilize
a high-profile vacant property in Oswego.
The 2005 Jobs Award, recognizing significant
capital investment as well as job creation and retention, was presented
to New York Chocolate & Confections Company,
in recognition of its commitment to locate chocolate manufacturing
operations in Oswego County by investing $25 million and reutilizing
the former Nestle facility in Fulton and putting back to work more
than 70 full-time employees in 2004 with plans to grow to more than
300 as the company enters full-fledged production of chocolate products.
Nancy Bellow was honored
for her support of Oswego County’s workforce development initiatives
for more than 10 years as director of SUNY Oswego’s Center
for Business and Community Development and for serving as director
of the Workforce Development Board of Oswego County and spearheading
a strategic workforce development plan in 2004 to help address the
human resource challenges of industry clusters in Oswego County.
Bellow was also recognized for serving on numerous boards and committees
which play an integral role in economic development including OOC,
the Greater Oswego Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Network for
Entrepreneurial Training, Leadership Oswego County, Small Business
Development Center and Oswego Health.
Also recognized was Dee Heckethorn, for being
awarded the New York State Economic Development Council’s
(NYSEDC) 2005 “Volunteer of the Year.” Heckethorn is
a retired commercial banker from Oswego who serves as a member of
the board of directors for OOC, the Oswego County IDA and numerous
other organizations that support economic development. The award
is presented to an individual whose leadership and dedication to
community improvement through quality, sustainable economic development
has led to new capital investment, helped create or retain jobs,
and improved the quality of life in the community and the state.
The OOC board of directors also elected Paul
Kurtzman, executive director of Oswego Industries Inc, to the board.
Re-elected to another three-year term were Ronald Darrow, retired,
retail; William Galloway, Century-21 Galloway Realty; Andrea McCabe,
Oswego County Catholic Charities; Louis Pettinelli, retired, education;
Bruce Phelps, Fulton Tool Company; Joseph Russo, Niagara Mohawk;
Corte Spencer, Oswego Health; Lloyd “Buddy” Stemple,
Novelis Corp.; and Steven Thomas, commercial real estate developer.
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