Lower-Cost NYPA Electricity to Help Create 140 Jobs in Green Island; Silhouette Optical and Case Group Planning Major Expansions

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Michael Saltzman
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April 30, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK—Allocations of lower cost electricity approved Tuesday by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Trustees will help make it possible for two companies to build multi-million dollar manufacturing facilities at an industrial park in the Village of Green Island and create about 140 new jobs over the next three years.

Silhouette Optical, Ltd., a manufacturer of high-fashion eyewear, and the Case Group, which makes window and door systems, have promised to create the jobs in return for NYPA allocations of 450 kilowatts (kw) and 250 kw, respectively.

“The lower cost power will help create new manufacturing facilities at the Green Island Industrial Park, along with various tax incentives and other benefits stemming from the park being in the boundaries of the Albany County Empire Zone,” said Louis P. Ciminelli, NYPA chairman. “Governor Pataki has worked to designate such zones in various parts of the state to attract businesses and encourage investments, which is precisely what we’re doing in Green Island with the new jobs being created there.”

The two allocations will be made through the Green Island Power Authority from a block of 108,000 kw set aside for economic development for areas served by the state’s 51 municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives. These are systems whose full or partial electricity requirements are met by NYPA, with the power that they purchase resold to the electricity consumers in those communities.

Silhouette Optical is relocating to the Green Island Industrial Park from Northvale, N.J., where space constraints have limited its ability to expand production capacity and add new jobs. A new 50,000-square-foot facility is expected to meet its growth needs, with the company planning to invest approximately $6 million and add about 110 new jobs.

The Case Group is moving to Green Island from nearby Schenectady after considering locations in four other states for expanding its operations. The company is planning to spend about $3.6 million on a 45,000-square foot facility in the industrial park. Its current employment level of 12 is expected to increase to 40.

Last January, the NYPA trustees approved a third allocation to the Green Island Power Authority to help the Sealy Mattress Co. expand and create 230 new jobs over the next three years at a new facility in the same industrial park. That allocation, from the same power allocation program benefiting Silhouette and Case, totaled 500 kw.

Half of the electricity under the program is low-cost hydropower from NYPA’s Niagara Power Project near Niagara Falls. That power is among the least expensive in the state.

The remaining half is available from other economic power sources arranged by NYPA. Municipal systems like Green Island also have the option of purchasing this amount on their own from other sources.

Charles Gargano, chairman of Empire State Development (ESD), said, “Since taking office, Governor Pataki has put in place key initiatives to encourage businesses to move to New York State. These important programs include discount-priced electricity, as well as the successful Empire Zones that promote the growth and expansion of our business community throughout this state. These initiatives have placed New York State in a far better position then we once were to compete and win projects and the confidence of the private-sector.