Bringing out-of-state businesses to New York a win, UCCC’s Katt says

“Our first big endeavor was to review patents to make sure what we had was patentable,” Gillespie said. “Gasification has been around since the 1800s. You see old movies with the fog and smog in London, well that was created by all the gasification, the gas for all the lights. What we found was that we had a very unique wet process which no one else had.”

Gillespie said Start-Up NY made coming to New York a natural fit, especially as they’d already started looking beyond Connecticut as a means of growing SWPS.

“We’re a Connecticut-based company only because I live in Connecticut,” he said. “Connecticut has its own priorities and agenda, and we don’t fit into that. As we were looking for good places to grow the company, we saw the Start-Up NY program and we were very aggressive to be part of that program.”

That’s exactly what Start-Up NY was meant to do, said Katt.

“We’re delighted we played a small role in getting them into Start-Up NY, but the fact that they’re coming from Connecticut means this program is doing exactly what the governor envisioned,” Katt said. “Up until Start-Up NY, the tax situation really put New York at a disadvantage, and there were businesses leaving New York because of the tax structures. By giving this 10-year tax-free approach, it really is leveling the playing field and putting New York back into a competitive position.”

Katt said that SUNY Ulster had heard from around 20 interested businesses, but they’ve sent just three to the state for approval. In addition to Mid-Island and SWPS, the other business was the controversial Niagara Bottling plant; that California-based company has been met with opposition by members of surrounding communities, and a decision from the state on Start-Up NY status is still under review. Katt said he believed an answer could come sometime in January.

Ulster Town Supervisor James Quigley III said while he hadn’t heard from representatives of either of the businesses already approved by Start-Up NY to move into the area, he hoped to soon.

“I don’t know anything about them,” he said. “They have not come to introduce themselves to my office. They have not come to the town for any kind of assistance. A business that has been touted as having so much promise and can add so much to the town, I’d like to become familiar with them so I can at least help them out if the need comes about.”

If Gillespie has his druthers, SWPS could be a local concern within a matter of weeks.

“I’m trying to make the move now,” he said. “I’d have liked to have done it on Jan. 1 to make it clean for accounting purposes. I’m pushing this thing as fast as I can.”

Katt said he hoped SUNY Ulster will be able to help facilitate the arrival of other businesses to the area through Start-Up NY in the future.

“This is a jobs program, not only to build business but also to create jobs in upstate New York and revitalize the economy,” he said. “And in our case, we just have two right now. We’re talking about 44 jobs, and it’s a start. And I can only see this program growing as we move into the future.”