SCHENECTADY Cyclics looking for new building Official says Montgomery County has shown interest BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com
Schenectady-based resin manufacturer Cyclics Corp. is searching for manufacturing space in the Capital Region for a new product line, setting off a scramble among communities for the prize. Cyclics wants an existing building measuring at least 15,000 square feet, said company spokeswoman Beth Phelps. The company, created in 1999, has its headquarters in Riverfront Technology Park, off Maxon Road Extension, and a $46 million manufacturing plant in Germany. The company employs 70 in Germany and 30, mostly chemists and engineers, in Schenectady. Phelps said the company would hire more workers for the proposed manufacturing facility but she did not know the exact number. The company has already added two people at its headquarters, she said. The company is about two months away from announcing a decision, Phelps said. “It’s about timing. We don’t have all the equipment we need yet. It is on order,” she said. The proposed facility would take the company’s main product, called CBT resins, and turn it into tooling blocks, Phelps said. The new facility would contain mixers and ovens to make the tooling blocks. “We make tooling blocks on a small scale. We want to increase our capacity and manufacture for the entire world,” she said. Manufacturers would use the tooling blocks to make molds for end-products such as plastic cups, plastic food trays and composite body panels for automobiles, Phelps said. “It is a way for us to get resins into market. Manufacturers need to know how to use it and it is easier for us to get a finished product that they know what to do with,” she said. Phelps said the company’s preference is to remain in Schenectady but it has received several offers, including one from Montgomery County economic development officials. Ken Rose of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. was not available for comment. Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen said Metroplex is working with Cyclics to help them remain in the county. Gillen said Cyclics is looking at local industrial parks, as the proposed facility has to be located in an area zoned for industry. “We are focused on finding them space and keeping them in the county. We have shown them a number of excellent opportunities,” Gillen said. Down the road, Phelps said the company hopes to move into the composite plastics market. The move could entail the need for additional manufacturing space. Metroplex loaned Cyclics $1.3 million in 2001 to construct and outfit its 22,000-square-foot facility in the Riverside Technology Park. The loan allowed the company to relocate its research and development staff from incubator space in Rensselaer, where it developed its innovative plastic resin technology, Gillen said. The company has a loan balance of $424,826 and is scheduled to pay it off in full Oct. 1, he said. Gillen said it was too early to say whether Metroplex would provide additional financial incentives to keep the company in Schenectady County.
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Brad Littlefield
May 9, 2008, 7:40am
Guest User
Were there no benchmarks regarding the length of operations in Schenectady County, the number of employment positions to be created, and/or the return on investment in property tax revenue that were tied to the funding agreement between Cyclics Corporation and the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority? If the company relocates its operations to Montgomery county, how many jobs will be lost?
The mission of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority must be revised. If the Metroplex is to continue operations, the focus must be on investments (e.g., infrastructure, development of shovel ready sites, mass transit, etc.) that will benefit the county over the long term and that will not be forfeited to investors who elect to "pull up stakes" and relocate to other counties that offer greater incentives. Otherwise, Schenectady County will be susceptible to what amounts to corporate extortion. The Metroplex management must be changed if a change in philosophy and priorities is to occur.
The New York State Comptroller's Office must investigate as part of their performance audit of the Metroplex the criteria upon which funding decisions are made and the safeguards that are in place to ensure that the investment of public revenues is not jeopardized by poor decision making.
By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor Last updated: 4:43 p.m., Thursday, December 11, 2008
Cyclics Corp., which manufactures plastic resins, said it has cut 10 full- and part-time employees at its Schenectady headquarters. The reduction leaves the plant with 20 employees.
The announcement came this afternoon from interim CEO Walter Robb, who blamed the worsening global economy for the reductions. Robb became interim CEO following the resignation of Gary Powell in November.
Robb said cuts in the work force and in other expenses should allow Cyclics to survive the current downturn without any other cutbacks, "barring further market declines around the........................http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=749515
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