Manufacturing in Oswego County
By L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, Executive Director, Operation
Oswego County
From the expansion of Fulton Thermal Corp.
in the town of Richland, to the construction of Oneida Lake Ready-Mix
in the town of West Monroe, manufacturing continues to be a major
force in the local economy in Oswego County.
Fulton Thermal will complete a $12 million,
115,000 square-foot, expansion of its commercial and industrial
heat transfer equipment business. The project will create 50 jobs.
Oneida Lake Ready-Mix is a new company that will be involved in
the production of concrete, heavy equipment repairs and sales. The
$1.6 million project includes a 7,300 square-foot facility on a
four-acre site and will create 29 jobs.
The economic impact associated with manufacturing
operations like these has significant multiplier effects on local,
regional, state and national economies that are unmatched by other
industries. A multiplier effect occurs when job opportunities and
work for local suppliers and services are created as a result of
the needs of the manufacturer. Local businesses may benefit financially,
allowing them to expand both their range of services and size which
would in turn enhance the quality of life in the area and attract
new industry to the county.
According to the New York State Department of Labor, 14% of the
private sector jobs in Oswego County are in manufacturing. The importance
of that is evident when compared with New York State as a whole,
in which 7% of all private sector jobs in manufacturing. Thus, Oswego
County when compared to the State has a significantly higher ratio
of jobs in the manufacturing sector.
In addition to developing strategic initiatives
to compete for and attract new manufacturing employers to the county,
one of Operation Oswego County’s primary goals is to make
our existing manufacturing firms more competitive by helping to
facilitate new investment and job creation and retention.
In the next year, Huhtamaki will once again expand its operations
in the city of Fulton by adding new state-of-the-art printing equipment.
Huhtamaki employs 650 and is approaching Novelis in being the largest
manufacturing employer in the county. Sunoco Inc., a leading manufacturer
and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, purchased
the former Northeast Biofuels ethanol production facility in the
Riverview Business Park in the town of Volney in order to provide
approximately one quarter of the company’s future ethanol
requirements. The company, which currently employs 30 people, is
currently assessing renovation needs at the Volney facility in order
to bring the facility to full operation of over 100 million gallons
of ethanol per year.
Other manufacturers in Oswego County have
continued to invest and grow their production facilities including
New York Bold, in the town of Volney, who acquired new packaging,
label printing and computerized weighing equipment for their onion
business; Pathfinder Industries, manufacturer of precision sheet
metal and machined parts in Fulton, who acquired a new machining
center and equipment needed to address increased customer demand;
Mitchell’s Speedway Press who acquired and relocated to the
former Speedway Press in the city of Oswego; and Healthway Products
in Pulaski, a manufacturer of air filtration equipment that acquired
the historic Ontario Iron Works building that had been vacant for
years and has retrofitted it into their corporate headquarters and
manufacturing operations.
Because the manufacturing sector is a vital
and key component of Oswego County’s economy, it will remain
as one of Operation Oswego County’s primary job development
targets moving forward in 2010.
For more information about economic development
services in Oswego County, call Operation Oswego County, a private,
non-profit organization working to enhance and protect the economic
climate of Oswego County, at 343-1545 or visit www.oswegocounty.org.
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