This technical fabrics manufacturing site in Albion will see one of two investments in the state by Saint-Gobain. CertainTeed, a division of French multinational Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, also chose a South Buffalo site for a $13-million 250,000-sq.-ft. (23,225-sq.-m.) building materials plant that will employ 160 people, relocated from an obsolete facility in nearby Cheektowaga.

Connections to Albany
About More Than Politics

While dozens of economic development measures – including the much-prized Empire Zone program – undergo scrutiny and reforming the famously combative New York State Assembly, there are other, more concrete steps being taken to link downstate and upstate economically.
        First, the Port of Albany has become the first Northeast port to claim membership in the Port Inland Distribution Network, which will move containerized cargo by barge or rail between marine terminal facilities in the New York/New Jersey area and regional terminals in New York, New Jersey and three other Northeast states. The regional concept, projected to generate some $125 million in new distribution and warehouse activity in the area, hinges on the participation of port operators in four other states.
        Second – and probably more prevalent in site selectors' minds – is a $200-million investment in a buried power cable running the 130 miles (209 km.) between Albany and New York. The Empire Connection project, proposed by New York­based Conjuncion LLC, would cost some $750 million, and would supply some 2,000 megawatts of power to a congested area that is high on the list of "areas of concern," according to the North American Electric Reliability Council, especially in the wake of the August 2003 blackout.
        But there are structures as well as infrastructures going up in the Hudson Valley. Montreal-based Deluxe Packaging Corp. will employ up to 50 people at its first U.S. plant in Kingston, converting paper products and packaging for the food industry. And St. Louis-based grocery chain Save-A-Lot is constructing a $16-million, 335,000-sq.-ft. (31,122-sq.-m.) distribution center in the 200-acre (81-hectare) Greene Business & Technology Park in Coxsackie, south of Albany.
        In Albany, legislative progress, albeit incremental, has already been made with the adoption of a new package of brownfield laws, designed to bring New York up to speed in mitigation and redevelopment of Superfund and other contaminated sites. Besides establishing long-term funding for various programs, the law designates tax credits worth $135 million to offset costs associated with real property taxes, site preparation, water treatment expenses, and property improvements. Beginning in April 2005, developers can recoup up to 22 percent of site development and construction costs. And, unlike neighboring New Jersey, those entering voluntary cleanup agreements are not responsible for remediating off-site contamination.
        Credits increase for developers that voluntarily remediate a site to unrestricted use standards, and there is a provision for environmental insurance credits too. But it's just a start, says Daniele Cervino, vice president of sales and general counsel for Parsippany, N.J.-based Environmental Waste Management Associates.
        "It was a long time coming," she says of the new program, citing more advanced progress in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She also notes that the law establishes four standards of soil remediation, but it is primarily weighted toward the elusive – and expensive – "unrestricted use" standard.
        Combined with that high goal is increased provision for public hearings and study of alternative remedies, which can add months to a project. Other negatives about the policy, says Cervino, include a required notice of 60 days before selling a property, and a loophole that permits the government to re-open a case if it changes a cleanup standard.
        "If the goalpost keeps moving, how are we going to deal with contaminated properties?" she asks. "This law is incredibly helpful for municipalities, but just the beginning of a brownfields program for private developers. It's a step in the right direction. There has to be some balancing with the public comment and the predictability."