News From Business Manager, Dave Decaire

After four years of planning we are finally seeing the construction of the largest producing Ethanol plant in the Northeast. The former Miller brewing plant located in Fulton, NY has sat dormant after closing over 11 years ago. To see new life being brought back to this facility and to our area is very exciting.

Renamed the Riverview Business Park by developers Eric Will and Tom Denny this $200 million dollar investment is expected to put 300 engineers and construction workers to work on the plant and infrastructure during the 15 month construction and renovation project.

Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 73 and IBEW Local 43 are proud of the fact that we became involved in the success of bringing this project to a reality by investing a combined $3 million dollars from our pension funds. This turned out to be a win - win situation, the developers were able to obtain their financing and our pension funds were paid back with a substantial interest rate .

A Project Labor Agreement was secured for the entire site and any future developments such as the recapturing of the CO2. BOC Group, an international supplier of gasses will begin operations concurrent with the ethanol manufacturer, Northeast Biofuels. The $15 million dollar plant will purchase the carbon dioxide emitted from the production of the ethanol.

Northeast Biofuels estimates to use 41 million bushels of corn, much of it to be purchased from New York farmers to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year. Purdue farms will facilitate the acquisition of the corm by locating a grain division at Riverview which will also market distiller's dried grains, a co-product of the ethanol production process.

NEB, Perdue and BOC are expected to employ 100 permanent workers and over 1,000 indirect jobs are projected to be created in the agriculture and transportation sectors alone.

We are looking forward to the revitalization to our area economy that this project promises to be.