RICHFIELD SPRINGS – The U.S. Commerce Department has approved a $1.2 million grant to establish the Richfield Springs Eco-Industrial Business Park, Otsego Now, the county’s economic development agency, announced today.
The Economic Development Administration grant, to be matched with $325,000 in state funds and $875,000 in local funds, is expected to generate more than $10.5 million in private investment, the announcement said.
Cynthia Andela, president of Andela Product & Ruby Lakes Glass, Richfield Springs, and Bob Walrath, Mohawk, demonstrate the glass recycling companies’ commitment to 6 feet of social distancing as the company was back at full strength Friday, the first day of Governor Cuomo’s Phase One of the “new normal.” The company’s 20-person workforce had been at half-strength during April, but with PPP funding and its customers again placing orders, things are returning to normal, and Andela hopes the company will recoup any losses over the summer. Meeting the governor’s guidelines, Andela workers are using a sign-in sheet daily averring they and their family members are COVID-free, and then their temperatures are taken. At work, employees wear masks and practice social distance; a second picnic table was acquired for the break room, to allow sufficient space between people. Andela’s sister, who runs a fabric company, is also providing the Town of Columbia company with polyamide fibre face masks, that people can wear without fogging their glasses. “You can wash the mask when you wash your hands, and it’s dry 15 minutes later,” the company president said. The masks are available at the plant, and the Richfield Springs Food Pantry. Also, the Richfield Springs Coop has already sold 21, according to proprietor Dan Sullivan. (Jim Kevlin /AllOTSEGO.com)
ONEONTA — A $420,000 grant so Andela Products Inc. can expand into the Richfield Springs Industrial Park leads off the list of grants Otsego Now is hoping to receive in this year’s round of state economic development funding, to be announced Thursday in Albany.
Andela Products’ President Cynthia Andela discusses her plans with two men who sometimes find themselves on different sides of economic-development issues: Tom Armao of Oneonta, left, an Otsego Now board member, and Adrian Kuzminski of Fly Creek, Sustainable Otsego moderator. In the background are Richfield Town Board member Larry Frigault and Otsego 2000 President Nicole Dillingham. (Jim Kevlin/www. AllOTSEGO.com)
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
Cynthia Andela shows off the Ruby Glass catalogue at this morning’s presentation.
RICHFIELD SPRINGS – Andela Products and its subsidiary, Ruby Lake Glass, expects to break ground in 2020 on a 100,000-square-foot building on a 40-acre parcel just south of the village owned by Otsego Now, company President Cynthia Andela told a gathering of businesspeople this morning at the Richfield Springs Community Coop.
That will still leave room for a 50,000-square-foot building on the site, which could be used by a single company, or subdivided to accommodate several companies, she said at a session organized by the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce.
The 25-year-old company recycles glass, and Ruby Lake colorizes glass that can then be used for crossing stripes and other markings on road pavement. Andela said her company currently has a contract with New York City to stripe pavement; if you’re there, you can see it in the vicinity of the Flatiron Building. The product offers “color, friction and durability,” with resulting stripes withstanding 4-5 years of traffic.
RICHFIELD SPRINGS – Andela Products, the glass recycling company, is planning to a $5 million business park on 55-acres south of the village and to increase its workforce by almost 50 percent, company President Cynthia Andela told the Richfield Springs Chamber of Commerce tonight.
“We are a diamond in the rough. We have the energy. We are next to the pipeline,” Andela told 30 people gathered in the Richfield Lanes bowling alley. At another point, she added, “Richfield Springs could be a really nice place for progressive businesses.”
RICHFIELD SPRINGS – The U.S. Commerce Department has approved a $1.2 million grant to establish the Richfield Springs Eco-Industrial Business Park, Otsego Now, the county’s economic development agency, announced today.
