OLEAN, N.Y. — A company interested in buying the Siemens Energy campus in North Olean is in talks with state and local officials over an incentive package, the Times Herald has learned.
Siemens announced plans in February to close the plant in 2022. The plant was subsequently put on the market with an asking price of $7.5 million. The 88-acre site has two buildings with 775,000 square feet for production plus 172,000 square feet for offices.
The layoffs involve 530 manufacturing workers being implemented in stages, started in July. A second round was scheduled to occur this month. About 100 machinists were being transferred to the Siemens plant in Painted Post.
Local officials are hopeful that a sale can be announced before the end of year, said Corey Wiktor, the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency’s executive director.
Wiktor, like other local officials, said he could not disclose the name of the company expressing interest in the former Dresser-Rand property.
Local and state development officials have heard from several potential buyers, Wiktor said.
“Everyone is looking for a new legacy company to begin manufacturing at the facility,” he said. “We’ve spoken to both domestic and international companies. … There’s a qualified workforce” of steelworkers at the plant.
Empire State Development, Olean officials and the IDA have been focused on the sale of the Siemens plant for some time, Wiktor said. “We didn’t want to see the property go to some developer who would scrap it and then try to sell the property.”
Olean Common Council President John Crawford said he and Mayor Bill Aiello have been on the phones almost daily talking to companies that might be interested in the Siemens plant.
Crawford said he was encouraged by reports that a company expressing serious interest in the Siemens Energy plant could hire 300 or more employees over two years. He also declined to identify the company.
The mayor told the Times Herald Wednesday “nothing has been confirmed to the mayor’s office regarding the sale of the Siemens plant.”
Aiello said he speaks frequently with Crawford on who might be interested in the plant and rumors.
“That would really soften the blow,” Aiello said of reports that a sale might be near. “If this comes to fruition, it would be really good news for the city of Olean and surrounding area.”
News of serious interest in the Siemens site comes less than two weeks after Great Lakes Cheese Co. announced that a new 500,000-square-foot plant will be built in the towns of Franklinville and Farmersville, keeping 226 jobs at the current Cuba site in the area while adding 200 more.
With tax breaks, commitments to buy land and millions in aid for infrastructure, Great Lakes is expected to break ground on the $505 million cheese plant north of the village of Franklinville in the spring.
The Cattaraugus County IDA as well as local and state lawmakers were heavily involved in negotiations with Great Lakes to put the incentive package together.
