The board of directors of Empire State Development (ESD) on Thursday approved more than $16 million in grant awards for projects statewide. ESD is New York’s chief economic-development agency. The projects will create 75 new jobs and retain nearly 700 jobs across the state, ESD said in a news release. The funding […]
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The board of directors of Empire State Development (ESD) on Thursday approved more than $16 million in grant awards for projects statewide.
ESD is New York’s chief economic-development agency.
The projects will create 75 new jobs and retain nearly 700 jobs across the state, ESD said in a news release.
The funding will leverage more than $180 million in additional investments to support business growth, the agency said.
The ESD board awarded GUSC Energy, Inc. of Rome a Regional Council award grant of $1.5 million.
GUSC Energy provides steam and electricity to Griffiss Utility Services Corp., which distributes steam heat and electricity to the tenants of Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome, ESD said.
GUSC has built a new, 15 megawatt combined heat and power plant (CHP) at Griffiss Park. The “recently completed” CHP serves more than 60 tenants of that facility, ESD said.
The CHP uses biomass to generate steam and electricity for Griffiss Park tenants that include the U.S. Air Force, the New York Air National Guard, and entities of the U.S. Department of Defense.
The company sought to diversify fuel resources which support energy needs at Griffiss Park, achieve Department of Defense-mandated renewable-energy goals, and provide rate stability and savings on energy costs, the agency said.
Replacing grid-sourced electricity and steam generation with renewable, “readily-available” biomass fuels gives the facility and its tenants the benefit of more “stable and controlled” future-energy prices, ESD said.
The project should result in a 10 percent to 20 percent savings to Griffiss Park’s energy customers, according to ESD.
The ESD board also approved a grant of $500,000 that the North Country Regional Economic Development Council awarded to Lawler Realty of Sackets Harbor for a waterline-improvement project at Madison Barracks in the same Jefferson County community.
Madison Barracks is a complex that offers rental housing to soldiers and their families, according to ESD.
The project will upgrade the supply of water for health and safety purposes, installing new waterlines and fire hydrants.
Lawler Realty expects to complete the more than $1.3 million project in November, according to ESD.
In addition, ESD also awarded Agrana Fruit US (AFUS) of Lysander a grant of $600,000 to help offset the cost of its nearly $50 million project to build a new facility.
AFUS, a manufacturer of prepared fruit for the dairy industry and bakery applications, is building the new plant as a direct result of New York’s support of the yogurt industry, according to ESD.
As the company sought to expand operations by opening a new plant, it considered sites and offers from several states, including New York, the agency said.
ESD offered AFUS a capital grant of $600,000 in return for the creation of 60 new jobs.
Agrana Fruit expects to complete the project in April 2014, ESD said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com