MALTA & SCHENECTADY Manufacturer plans expansion, may move to Saratoga County BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 885-6705 or swilliams@dailygazette.net.
A Schenectady company that makes electrical current conversion equipment is looking to expand, and may be moving into the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park. Saratoga County’s Empire Zone Administrative Board on Tuesday certified SEPSA North America to receive Empire Zone benefi ts if it makes the move — certifying the company on the next-to-last day before the state’s Empire Zone Program expires. SEPSA makes equipment that converts direct current to alternating current for subway cars and other electric-powered railroad vehicles. It is currently located on Duane Avenue in Schenectady. Bill Kolberg, SEPSA’s director of finance, said the company plans to expand into making communications and control systems and toilet modules for railcars. It also plans to enter the market for converting direct current generated by photovoltaic cells to the alternating current used in the electric grid. SEPSA currently employs about 40 people in Schenectady, and plans to try to keep them when it moves. Within four or fi ve years after the expansion, Kolberg said he expects to have added 25 to 30 employees. ..................>>>>>.............................>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/Default/Layout/Includes/SCHENECTADY/ArtWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=SCHENECTADY&BaseHref=SCH%2F2010%2F06%2F30&ViewMode=HTML&PageLabel=A5&EntityId=Ar00505&AppName=1
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June 30, 2010, 5:41am
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Flashback: Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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A Spanish maker of rail and subway car components is opening its doors in Schenectady.
SEPSA Corp., headquartered in Madrid, has moved into a 17,000-square-foot building on Duane Avenue which was built and is owned by Robert Moore, owner of the Tool Shed, a Schenectady retail tool outlet. SEPSA, which makes static converters for passenger rail cars and subway cars, is leasing 11,000 square feet and has an option to occupy an additional 6,000 later this year, said Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority head Ray Gillen.
The building is located opposite the CardioMag/SuperPower complex.
The company also makes electronic information and control, and on-board communications systems.
The company is creating 35 jobs immediately, will increase that to 50 by the end of the year, and to 100 jobs over the next couple of years, Gillen said.
SEPSA has manufacturing plants in Spain and China.
The final deal was worked out in May, Gillen said. The announcement had to wait for some final details to be nailed down.
SEPSA products are onboard trains being used by the New York City Transit Authority, the Long Island Rail Road, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Washington Metro. A total of 7,000 passenger rail cars in the United States are equipped with the company's products and it anticipates enough production to equip another 1,027.
The building being leased to SEPSA was built using accelerated depreciation credits available through the federal Renewal Community Program. The tax incentives provide a real savings to tenants, Gillen said.
SEPSA also has an option to construct additional manufacturing space on land adjacent to the Duane Avenue property.
"We are extremely pleased to be coming to Schenectady and we appreciate the efforts of the building owner, Schenectady County and the Mayor's office," said John Hanrahan, the CEO of SEPSA North America. "We look forward to being a part of the community and utilizing this facility to build world class transit equipment."
Metroplex worked with SEPSA for two years to convince the company to locate in Schenectady, Gillen said. The city has a long history of rail-related businesses and Super Steel, a company that makes railroad cars and locomotives is located in the Scotia industrial park.
SEPSA is a leader in transit and it makes sense to bring the company to Schenectady, Gillen said.
Sepsa North America, which relocated to Schenectady in 2006, has 33 workers now, one less than it lists as having when it came to the city. It had promised to employ 100 workers by the first quarter of 2008.
The state DEC has determined that the a group of industrial-manufacturing businesses on Duane Avenue is surrounded by land contaminated decades ago. A former dry cleaner has been named the culprit, and the state Superfund will pay the $1.7 million cost to clean the land, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The agency began testing soil and groundwater at the site in late 2007 and announced this month that contaminants must be removed. The timing is critical because at least one of the manufacturing businesses at the site wants to expand, and the ideal expansion location is directly above the contamination, which has spread throughout the entire site. But the cleanup won’t interfere with SEPSA North American’s expansion, Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen said. In fact, DEC’s decision probably made the expansion possible, he added. “It would be difficult to get them to expand there [without a cleanup],” Gillen said. SEPSA, which designs and manufactures the train car inverter used to convert third rail power into electricity, now employs more than 50 people and plans to hire more. Also at the 445 Duane Ave. site are SuperPower, LogicalNet and CardioMag.
So, in 2010 they have 40 employees. In 2006 they had 35 March 08 they had 33 February 09 they had 50
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2006: The company is creating 35 jobs immediately, will increase that to 50 by the end of the year, and to 100 jobs over the next couple of years, Gillen said.
I guess they fell a little short of their goals .. yet now they're looking for more govt handouts and promise, again, to nearly double their workforce???
I guess they didn't need the "additional manufacturing space near the property". Make sure SS subtracts this from her phony job totals.
CardioMag is another complete flop. This was supposed to employ over a hundred people. Now how many? 3? Over a million dollars in City tax money alone was flushed down this toilet. Metrograft dumped even more for parking lots. No wonder we have the highest County taxes and City taxes in the region. But no jobs.
Until the city addresses the high taxes, high crime, deteriorating infrastructure, lousy roads, and areas of the city that resemble a disaster zone businesses will not stay here no matter how much in tax breaks they get to build. Take a ride around the city and then ask yourself if you would want to start a business in Schenectady?
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Albatros wants to move into tech park Company forced to relocate from Schenectady BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS Gazette Reporter
A maker of electrical equipment for rail cars and the alternative energy industry is hoping to locate its North American headquarters at the Corporate Technology Park, after being unable to strike a deal to move to Malta. Albatros North America, now located in Schenectady, has applied to the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency for tax breaks to help it with a $3.5 million project to build a 36,000-square-foot headquarters, manufacturing and distribution center on McCrea Hill Road. The company says its current work force of about 40 people could grow to 65 within three years as the business grows. The IDA last week received a new application from Albatros for the Ballston site, less than two months after it received an application for Albatros to locate at the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park in Malta. Ultimately, however, Albatros was unable to reach a land deal with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which owns the STEP park. Keith Rice, a project engineer with Albatros, said county economic development offi cials were “amazingly helpful” in assisting Albatros to find another site in the county. The Corporate Technology Park has ready access to both Route 50 and the Northway, and that is “very key,” Rice said. The company is buying a 4.6-acre site. “It’s a good location for them,” said IDA Executive Director Larry Benton. The easy access to Schenectady via Route 50 should also help Albatros keep its current employees when it moves, Benton said. Albatros now leases a 17,000-square-foot space on Duane Avenue in Schenectady. Company officials say they looked in Schenectady County but were unable to find anything suitable. ...............>>>>.....................>>>>...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00900&AppName=1
The statistics how that they indeed grew jobs -- during the worst economic downturn in our nation since the Great Depression ... and are growing the business with this new move -- so how could any reasonably intelligent person call that anything but a success.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
So, in 2010 they have 40 employees. In 2006 they had 35 March 08 they had 33 February 09 they had 50
I guess they fell a little short of their goals .. yet now they're looking for more govt handouts and promise, again, to nearly double their workforce???
It's a shame M'plex couldn't throw some more $ their way to convince them of the proximity to I-90, I-88, I-890, etc.
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The easy access to Schenectady via Route 50 should also help Albatros keep its current employees when it moves, Benton said.
Another disgrace for the unified development crew. Albatros officials say they looked in Schenectady County but were UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING SUITABLE. Huh? In the whole County?
Add another 50 jobs to add to the thousands of jobs that have fled the County since Savage/Gillen took over. The jig is up. After Savage gets shellacked look for a total house cleaning. There is no way to spin this as anything but another disaster.
Another disgrace for the unified development crew. Albatros officials say they looked in Schenectady County but were UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING SUITABLE. Huh? In the whole County?
Add another 50 jobs to add to the thousands of jobs that have fled the County since Savage/Gillen took over. The jig is up. After Savage gets shellacked look for a total house cleaning. There is no way to spin this as anything but another disaster.
Correction: After Ms. Savage tosses[b][/b] "Triple Dipper, Do-Nothing-But-Get-MY-Son-Patronage-Jobs" Farley from the State Senate. First, you folks claimed that Albatross was a big failure -didn't create any jobs -- now -- you say it is part of "thousands" of jobs that left Schenectady in the last few years --- although you haven't actually shown any documentation that thousands of jobs left in the last few years. The fact is the greatest LOSS of jobs in Schenectady Count was in the period from 1955 through 1995 .... ALCO closing ... GE cutting back and closing lots of operations ..etc ..etc... those were all years that the GOP controlled the County Legislature and the economic development programs of the county. the GOP leadership put Schenectady County "on the ropes" -- we were seconds away from the referee calling the fight over .. with us defeated. Sue Savage and Ray Gillen have brought more than 3,500 new jobs to Schenectady County. With leaders like Ray Gillen and Sue Savage, Schenectady is off the ropes, starting to fight back, and this time we have the clear opportunity to win the fight.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
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I guess they didn't need the "additional manufacturing space near the property". Make sure SS subtracts this from her phony job totals.
