Siemens to consolidate local operations in Schenectady Tuesday, March 18, 2008 By Michael Lamendola (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — Siemens PTI will consolidate local operations into the top two floors of 400 State St. and nearly double its staff to provide more training to power generation engineers from around the world. The company will relocate from its current training facility at 1482 Erie Blvd. and from other sites in the Capital Region by the end of the year. The State Street location, which also houses Movieland, will contain 67 employees at first and then up to 110 employees, said Michael Edmonds, vice president and general manager of Siemens PTI. The Galesi Group owns the building, which opened in May 2007. Siemens PTI brings about 1,000 students per year to Schenectady for training in the latest developments in energy technology. “For over 37 years, Siemens PTI has been a successful part of Schenectady’s growing energy industry,” Edmonds said. “Our consulting and training headquarters offers well-paying, knowledge-based jobs to the local workforce and helps to provide our nation’s electric utility workforce with the skills and services required to maintain our critical infrastructure.” Siemens had looked at sites outside of Schenectady County to consolidate operations, Edmonds said. “As we are in 130 countries, it would be expensive to retain everyone to pronounce somewhere else,” he said with a laugh. “Actually, it is a great location for staff. We will increase our training so that we can train even more engineers from around the world.” Ray Gillen, chairman of the Metroplex Development Authority, hailed Siemens’ decision to remain in Schenectady County. “It’s a major retention win and keeps Schenectady at the forefront of the power generation business,” he said. Siemens is expected to rent space in Proctors for training and conferences and book the Hampton Inn for visiting students, Gillen said.
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