SAAB WINS $14.6 MILLION NAVY CONTRACT MODIFICATION, WITH MOST OF THE WORK TO BE DONE IN DEWITT:
https://www.cnybj.com/saab-wins-navy...ly+News+Alerts
Also,
A plastics recycler just recycled long-abandoned Syroco factory, and he’s hiring:
https://www.syracuse.com/business/20...es-hiring.html
From the article: "A Rochester businessman has turned a long-abandoned, vandal-plagued factory into a plastics recycling facility with a growing workforce.
Frank Murphy, president and owner of Empire Polymer Solutions, bought the former Syroco factory south of Baldwinsville in 2020 and sank more than $7 million fixing it up.
Now, 30 people are working in the building that closed nearly 16 years ago. They recycle plastic from used consumer and industrial products.
And Murphy is looking to hire more. He said he expects his workforce to increase to 70 within two years. Wages for production workers at Empire Polymer start at $16.50 an hour and typically increase after training.
“We’re proud of what we’ve done here,” said Murphy.
The 57-year-old mechanical engineer founded his recycling business in Rochester 15 years ago to help meet the growing demand for recycled plastic in the U.S. and Canada.
At first, the company only recycled plastics from industrial products. But more recently, it expanded to recycle plastic from consumer products such as deodorant containers.
With the expansion, Murphy needed more space than the 15,000-square-foot building he rents in Rochester. So he began looking around Central New York and the Finger Lakes region for a second building, one “with good bones,” at least 150,000 square feet of space, tall ceilings and a rail spur.
Onondaga County officials showed him one that fit the bill perfectly — the 200,000-square-foot former Syroco plant on State Fair Boulevard. They offered to seize the abandoned site for back taxes and sell it to him for $500,000.
Built in 1965, the factory produced plastic lawn furniture and wall decorations until Syroco (its original name was Syracuse Ornamental Co.) went bankrupt in June 2007 and abandoned the site.
Murphy agreed to the county’s deal, which included $2.4 million in tax exemptions over 15 years -- exemptions that Murphy said helped to make the project financially feasible. He completed the purchase in June 2020.
“This was really the only building we found that had the infrastructure to fit our expansion,” he said.
There was just one problem. The building was in horrible shape after years of vandalism and roof leaks.
“The building was just an eyesore,” said Murphy. “And the roof leaked so bad I thought it was a rainforest. You almost needed an umbrella to walk through.”
The renovations took six months and included roof repairs and new windows, fire sprinkler system, sewer lines, electrical system and HVAC system, loading dock doors and a newly paved parking lot. Recycling operations began in January 2021.
Murphy buys plastic waste that consumers toss into their blue bins and plastic scrap left over from industrial processes. Inside his Van Buren facility, the plastic is washed and any labels removed.
The waste is then dumped into machines that grind the plastic into tiny pieces, which are sold to manufacturers who turn them into new products such as shampoo and detergent bottles, lawn furniture, composite decking and drainage tiles.
Buyers of the recycled plastic get the benefit of having to make less virgin plastic for their products.
“Every pound that we produce is a pound of virgin plastic that doesn’t have to be produced,” said Murphy.
And the environment benefits because recycling plastics means less waste going into landfills and the oceans.
Murphy sees a lot more growth ahead for his company. Only 9% of plastics produced in the U.S. is recycled, so there’s plenty of potential business out there for Empire Polymer, he said.
The privately-owned company does not disclose it revenues, but Murphy said it is benefitting from the increasing number of state laws around the country imposing minimum recycled content requirements for plastic products. (In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently proposed minimum recycled content of up to 50% for rigid plastics and up to 40% for non-rigid plastics over time.)
“We’re positioned quite well to take advantage of it,” he said of the existing and proposed mandates.
To accommodate the growth in demand, Murphy launched a second shift at the Van Buren plant this month. And more hiring is planned.
Late this year, the company will begin manufacturing products of its own, starting with rot-proof plastic lumber for use on decks.
“If I could make products with 100% recycled material, that’s kind of my end game,” he said.
Murphy said he expects to add a third shift in January 2024 and later in the year undertake a large customer contract to recycle plastic scrap from a manufacturing operation. When that work starts, the company will be using all of the 200,000-square-foot facility.
“We’ll be running 24 hours, five days a week,” he said."
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
