Economic Development Report
June 2007
I open my report with the good news that Al McLain has teamed-up with a elaware registered company Woodstone US LLC which has a German entrepreneur, Albrecht von Sydow at the helm. During the next month or so, the company will explore the feasibility of operating a wood pellet plant in the Maynesboro Industrial Park. The business plan calls for the plant to employ around 30 people and use 350 to 400 thousand tons of wood per year. If all goes as planned, the pellet plant should begin
operation in the fall of 2008. During the last week of June a drilling crew was in the industrial park taking soil samples and determining the carrying capacity of the soils. HEB Engineering is in charge of this exploration and I’m assisting HEB in the research for information dealing with the history, early development and use of the industrial park. I’m sure the BIDPA board joins me in congratulating Al and Albrecht on reaching an agreement and, wishes them good luck with their project.
There have been several public announcements made by Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. about their tentative agreement to purchase the former recovery boiler and approximately half of the 120 acre former pulp mill site. For the board’s information, Laidlaw Energy has been in the process of converting a small (7mw) natural gas fired power plant to wood energy in Ellicottville New York for the past two years. The company has run into some permitting issues which has resulted in them filing a lawsuit against the town for what it claims are delays. As of June 18, 2007 Laidlaw stock prices have fallen to $0.0004 per share from a high of $0.00065 on December 27, 2006. I recommend that the BIDPA Board of Directors keep informed about Laidlaw Energy and
the proposed project in Berlin.
I’ve had meetings with Brookfield Power and St Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad about the feasibility of creating a rail access point/siding somewhere behind Woodlands Credit Union. At the moment we have a furniture company looking at placeStateBerlin and access to rail is one of their requirements. In the past I’ve had inquiries about rail access from companies and I’ve had to refer them to Isaacson Steel who has a siding at their addressStreetJericho Road location. That location requires that trucks detour through our busy residential areas to reach their destination. I believe that with the expansion of the industrial park as well as the increasing needs of the wood pellet and power companies, a more central and public rail access point would be of great
value.
As a result of my June report to the BIDPA board on the issue of high speed internet access at the Maynesboro Industrial Park, I received an email from Terry Block suggesting that I research the feasibility of establishing a fixed wireless system for the industrial park. To date I’ve had conversations with Warner Cable and Verizon as well as with an Independent IT Consultant. I also had discussions with two tenants at the Park who are very concerned about their IT service and would welcome faster and more reliable service. I hope to come before the Board in a month or so with more details, possibly a plan for a system.
Norman Charest
Economic Development Director
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