Sunday, April 22, 2012

Cannabalism . . . While Utica Sleeps!

OD 10/15/10 Indium Corp. makes plans to expand
Indium Corp. is looking to expand its space of operations by moving into an additional building at 6149 Sutliff Road in Oriskany, company officials said Friday. . . .
The 64,000-square-foot building Indium Corp. is looking to purchase has an assessed value of $773,000 . .
Rome Sentinel 7/21/11: Rome? Georgia? China?
Indium Corp. wants to open a manufacturing plant in the West Rome Industrial Park and create 30 jobs over time, but the plan comes with some conditions. Before Indium buys and renovates the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive, it wants incentives from the county Industrial Development Agency and the state. While Kevin Martin, outside counsel for Indium, says Rome is the preferred location, he notes the company also is considering sites in Fulton County in Georgia, and China. . . .
Indium has its global headquarters in Clinton and a facility in Utica. It has 302 direct employees in Oneida County, plus contract workers that bring the total number to around 400, said Martin. The addition of a Rome plant would not affect employment at the other two locations in the county.
Rome Sentinel 4/20/12: $1M in grants and credits for Indium Rome expansion
 The company has already bought the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive and begun renovations. The new location will create up to 24 new full-time jobs. Indium currently has about 320 employees at its Clinton and Utica facilities.
Empire State Development Corp., New York’s economic development agency, is providing the company with a $347,939 grant to help offset the cost of the purchase of new machinery and equipment, as well as $652,061 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax benefits over five years.

 The project, estimated at $10 million, includes the relocation and expansion of some operations from Indium’s Lincoln Avenue location in Utica, including existing machinery and equipment. . . .  
116,124 square feet . . .
So plans have changed from "not affect"ing employment at the company's other two locations (July 2011) to relocating operations from Lincoln Ave to a location almost 21 miles away on the FAR side of Rome in April, 2012.  Pretty sad for a company founded in Utica in 1934. Indium can certainly do what it wants, and should do what it needs to survive and thrive, BUT

Why should taxpayers participate in this?  And where the heck were Utica officials all this time?

The answer to the last question may be that Utica officials and residents were already tapped out by this corporate pan-handler . . . 

OD Editorial 10/09/2007Indium deal lacking job information.
In its deal between the city of Utica and Indium Corp. that could be worth nearly $1.2 million, it’s not clear to the public whether Indium will be living up to its part of the bargain because it’s not fully forthcoming on job totals and job goals. By refusing to disclose that information, the company fails to provide specifics the public has a right to know as a partner in the deal.  That deal was announced last week following preliminary approval by the Utica Industrial Development Corp. of a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program and mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions that could total $545,000 over the next decade. That would be in addition to a $600,000 loan, approved by Utica’s Department of Urban and Economic Development in July. . . .
The $600,000 “loan” won’t have to be repaid if the company maintains 120 jobs at two Utica sites for five years. 
2007 to 2012 is -- 5 years!  Yup -- time to move on to the next community teat to milk. 

Enough is enough. Handouts are wasted money.  They do not fix the problem.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much for "Corporate Citizenship". This company, along with any politicians that broker any deals with this outfit should be run out of town on a rail.

Dave said...

But business is business and I don't fault Indium. If I were a stockholder, I'd expect the company to drive for its best deal. Getting mad at Indium displaces the anger so richly deserved by politicians and the system they've created. They're also the only guys who can put a stop to this nonsense of corporate welfare. And we all know the reasons why they won't.

Anonymous said...

It is tough to blame or criticize a company that takes advantage of programs created by those we elect.

Greens and Beans said...

What kind of message are we sending to our corporations? Corporate welfare is alive and well here in the Mohawk Valley. Why should Idium be any different than several other corporations that have fleeced our taxpayer funded economic development agencies? They take advantage of the taxpayer’s money to develop their businesses and then relocate their manufacturing jobs to other places. Orion Bus Industries is planning to close bus manufacturing in Oriskany. This after entering into a taxpayer subsidized deal to manufacture new busses for Centro. Now that’s not an example of civic gratitude. Some of these very same corporations have moved thousands of jobs half way around the globe as far as China. Yet others have relocated operations as close as across the county. And all with the duping of the taxpayer’s hard earned money.

Even the Federal Government (Obama administration) will move postal jobs to the Syracuse area. The State Government (Cuomo administration) is proposing moving Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center jobs to Syracuse at a considerable cost of $millions to the taxpayers.

Utica has a wealth of qualified workers including a hard working refugee population, who are eager to settle and remain in this area. But how long will these dedicated workers remain in Utica as its governing leaders remain indifferent as the jobs take leave for other areas?

Utica’s leadership should be screaming at the Oneida County Executive, State Senators, State Assemblypersons, Congressman and Federal Senators’ offices. But the status quo seems to prevail with the normal responses, laced with their grandiose posturing, in front of the media cameras and microphones of “all talk but no action” . . . again.

Will the last one out of Utica please turn off the lights.

Anonymous said...

Picente & Griffo are both from Rome & neither one of them give a damn about Utica unless it's election time. If a company was planning to move from Rome to Utica you can bet your last bottom dollar that they would do everything in their power to see that it didn't happen.

Recently, there was a meeting in Utica regarding the psych center downsizing. Where were Picente, Griffo & Brindisi? They were too busy with "prior engagements" to attend a meeting which will entail 130 jobs lost. That's our local representation in a nutshell. Indifferent. Hopefully, area voters will be indifferent when it comes time to pull the lever for the above come election day.

Anonymous said...

Lots of luck! These guys who have presided over our decline, get elected time and time again. They have spent their entire adult lives in local government positions. We are our own worst enemies. What makes anyone thing that we will someday wake up, politically speaking?

Terence said...

Interesting post.

Anonymous said...

Are you running out of gas, Strikeslip? Your once prolific posts are dwindling.

I hope you're not becoming disillusioned or demoralized. Keep your chin up!

Silence Dogood said...

I agree I think Strikeslip is as disillusioned and demoralized as the rest of us have become. We are going to be losing close to 800 jobs this year and they are surprised, didnt see it coming and "its time to fight for our area". Back when we use to have cassette tapes do you remember what you di when you wanted to hera the song again? Hit rewind and play !!!! thats what we hear time and again

Strikeslip please get your spirit back and become the voices of the few folks who are still left who still care.

Anonymous said...

Strike,
Your head is up and on straight. Please keep up these sort of posts. They are revealing and lead to more questions.....without answers in many cases. EDGE/GLDC/OCIDA come out come out wherever you are and tell your side of the story.