Nozzolio Announces 170 New Jobs Coming To Seneca Army Depot!

Romulus – Continuing his aggressive efforts to revitalize and create jobs at the Seneca Army Depot, State Senator Michael Nozzolio announced that two companies, Top Quality Hay Processors and Seneca Bioenergy, will be expanding their operations at the Seneca Army Depot and create approximately 170 new jobs for local residents.

Senator Nozzolio announced that he has secured $856,000 in state funding to implement the expansion of the companies at the Army Depot. In January, the Senator was also instrumental in securing $2.5 million in Restore-NY grant funding for the revitalization of the Army Depot.

“The continued strategic investment into the Seneca Army Depot is going to lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs for local residents,” said Senator Nozzolio. “Since the Army Base closed, we have created over 1,670 jobs at the former Army Depot and I was pleased to fight to secure this funding and continue efforts to transform the Depot into an economic engine for Seneca County and the Finger Lakes region.”

Top Quality Hay Processors is an innovative hay drying company that takes hay cut from the field and dries and bales the hay indoors in a matter of hours instead of several days, thus reducing limitations imposed by the weather. Top Quality Hay Processors is expected to create over 90 new jobs at the Depot by their third year of operation.

The $856,000 in funding secured by Senator Nozzolio will be used for the purchase of new equipment to expand their production of top quality alfalfa hay from 150 tons to 3,000 tons of quality hay in the first year of production. By the third year, the company plans to produce 18,000 tons of hay per year.

Jeff Warren, President of Top Quality Hay Processors said, “Today’s grant funding and the substantial Restore-NY grant announced earlier this year would not have happened without the support and dedication of Senator Nozzolio in bringing new businesses and jobs to the Army Depot. Senator Nozzolio was the driving force in bringing this project together and this state grant will help to create jobs in Seneca County.”

While visiting the Seneca Army Depot today, Senator Nozzolio also lauded the efforts of Seneca Bioenergy, a soy bean processor on the Depot grounds that produces alternative energy. Seneca Bioenergy also received Restore-NY funding in January to rehab a 400,000 square foot industrial building for their manufacturing facility.

Seneca Bioenergy is working to construct an agricultural products manufacturing facility with the capacity to crush soybeans and canola to produce renewable energy and biodiesel fuels. Seneca Bioenergy plans to complete the rehabilitation of Buildings 356 and 357 at the Army Depot by this summer and complete the construction of their soybean crushing and biodiesel production facility by the end of 2008.

Approximately 65 construction and support jobs will be created during the initial 6 months of facility construction at the Seneca Army Depot. Once operational, the facility is expected to create 80 new, permanent manufacturing jobs with a median salary of $40,000 per year. Seneca Bioenergy estimates that over 150-200 direct or related jobs in transportation and support jobs will be created by the facility during the first 5 years of operation.

Mike Coia, General Manager of Seneca BioEnergy said, “The Restore-NY funds that Senator Nozzolio fought to secure will allow us to rehabilitate over 400,000 square feet of warehouse space. We will also be able to heat the building using biomass heat creating through the use of woodchips.”

Steve Dennis, Executive Director of the Seneca County Economic Development Agency said, “This state funding will greatly assist the Seneca County IDA and the Town of Romulus with the continued redevelopment of the Depot. Seneca County is extremely fortunate to have such a strong advocate in Senator Nozzolio.”

David Kaiser, Supervisor of the Town of Romulus, “This is great news for the Town of Romulus and the revitalization of the Army Depot. Senator Nozzolio and everyone involved in securing this significant funding for the project are to be applauded for their hard work in bringing new jobs to the region.”

“Through years of hard work and perseverance, I am proud to say that there are now more jobs at the Army Depot than in the 1990’s at the height of its use and we will be adding even more jobs with the redevelopment funds announced today. As State Senator, I remain committed to continue working aggressively to create new jobs and development at the Army Depot,” concluded Nozzolio.


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