Jan. 24, 2006: Economic Development
Progress in Oswego County
Operation Oswego
County’s primary mission is to help strengthen and grow the
local economy in Oswego County. Our overriding objectives are to
help create new job opportunities, retain employment, build a broader
tax base, diversify the local economy, and to improve the overall
quality of life of citizens living in Oswego County.
In 2005, OOC
assisted more than 54 new, expanded or retained businesses which
will result in more than $92 million in capital investment and the
creation and/or retention of 389 jobs.
The following
economic development projects and initiatives facilitated by OOC
represent some of the major success stories in the past year and
will continue to contribute toward making Oswego County more diversified
and economically stable:
- Fulton Tool Company
re-established its business in the former Oswego Wire building
in Fulton which was retrofitted for the company whose building
was destroyed by fire in 2003. The project received funding assistance
from the County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency (IDA)
and National Grid, employee training assistance by the Workforce
Development Board of Oswego County and the Oswego County Department
of Employment and Training, and a low-cost power allocation through
the “Power for Progress” program;
- Harbor Lights
initiated the expansion of its outpatient clinic for adults and
adolescents suffering from alcohol and/or drug abuse related issues.
A new 7,360 square foot building will be constructed as well as
renovations of an existing building at its new location on Scenic
Avenue in Mexico. The project received funding assistance from
Community Bank, an SBA 504 loan through OOC and the IDA;
- The IDA approved $3.5 million in
civic facility revenue bonds to assist the renovation and 10,000-square-foot
expansion of the historic Oswego Public Library;
- Pack’s Short-N-Sweet,
a new drive-through business to be located in the town of Granby,
will sell soft ice cream, coffee and other specialty drinks and
bakery items. The owners are graduates of the Micro-Enterprise
Training Program. The project received funding assistance from
the IDA;
- The Manhattan Moon
in Constantia opened a full-service, 90-seat restaurant which
replaced the former Lakeview Inn. The new owner is a graduate
of the Micro-Enterprise Training Program and received funding
assistance from the IDA;
- Fulton Machinery,
a manufacturer of machinery components for the paper, film and
foil-converting industries, located in the Start-Up Facility in
the Oswego County Industrial Park in the town of Schroeppel;
- A new Arby’s
located in Pulaski and created18 jobs. Financing assistance provided
by the IDA;
- Lower Falls Development
acquired and is converting the historic Brickhouse Building in
Fulton to a mixed-use facility including offices, retail, restaurant
and residential space. The $700,000 project will create 21 jobs
and received funding assistance from the Fulton Community Development
Agency (CDA), the Community Preservation Corporation and the IDA;
- Biodiesel manufacturer NextGen
Fuel is locating at the Riverview Business Park in the
town of Volney. The $1 million project will enable the production
of five million gallons of biodiesel a year which will be sold
to fuel distributors. Financial assistance will be provided by
OOC and the USDA;
- KLG Transport expanded
its woman-owned trucking business in the town of Granby. The owner
is a graduate of the Micro-Enterprise Training Program and received
funding from the IDA and Oswego County National Bank. The project
created and/or retained six jobs;
- Central Square Farm and
Equine Supply is a new retail feed, home, farm and garden
products business in West Monroe. The project received financial
assistance from an SBA 504 loan through OOC, the IDA and Fulton
Savings Bank. The new business will create four new jobs;
- Precision Wood Flooring
Products is a new company that will manufacture high
quality, pre-finished flooring to be sold to national and international
distributors. The company has acquired the 200,000-square-foot
former Jefferson-Smurfit plant in the town of Volney. The project
will create 54 jobs and will receive funding assistance from the
IDA and the Fulton CDA;
- Old Man’s Place
is a new 4,800 square foot convenience store in the town of Granby
which includes gasoline pumps, propane, a laundromat and a liquor
store. The project received funding assistance from Fulton Savings
Bank, an SBA 504 loan through OOC and the IDA. The $650,000 project
will create 12 jobs.
Additionally,
one of OOC’s key goals last year was to promote the Oswego
County Public Utility Service’s “Power for Progress”
low-cost electrical energy program for new and expanding businesses
in Oswego County. The goal of the program is to create jobs using
low-cost electricity produced by Entergy Nuclear Northeast at the
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba. In 2005, 12
companies were awarded over 1.8 megawatts of discounted power. OCPUS
will continue to allocate up to 10 megawatts of low-cost power at
$32 per megawatt-hour per year until 2010. This low cost power allocation
is a unique incentive in upstate New York that could be structured
in economic development finance packages to expand and compliment
existing incentive programs such as the Empire Zone program, IDA
and SBA financing, and Empire State Development and National Grid
economic development funding programs.
In order to remain
visible to corporate real estate decision makers to recruit new
businesses and add new and better job opportunities, OOC will continue
to aggressively promote Oswego County’s economic development
opportunities in 2006 through national, international and regional
trade publications, by participating in exhibitions and industry-specific
tradeshows, through business outreach and by utilizing the Internet.
Back
to 2006 Press Releases
|
