Crews complete $5 million manufacturing facility for Cold Point Corp. in Rome

ROME, N.Y. — Construction crews have wrapped up work on Cold Point Corporation’s new $5.1 million, 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Rome, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.

Cold Point specializes in the design and manufacture of water-source heat pumps; packaged-terminal air conditioners; condensing units; along with packaged heat pumps and air conditioners for direct replacement, renovation, and new construction applications.

The facility will house a “more efficient” industrial layout, add at least one additional manufacturing line, double warehousing and distribution capacity, and create up to 15 additional jobs “in the near term,” Cuomo’s office said.

The site has been the focus of major state agency partnerships and funding assistance.

Empire State Development, the City of Rome, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Rome Industrial Development Corporation, National Grid, and Rome Community Brownfield Restoration Corporation partnered in 2008-2009 to complete a $3 million brownfield remediation and restoration effort on the Rome Cable Complex 3 site.  

The new $5.1 million facility is located at the northwest corner of Henry and South Jay Streets and included construction of a 50,000-square-foot advanced-manufacturing facility on that former brownfield site.

Cold Point Corporation was awarded a $900,000 grant through Rome’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and $300,000 in Excelsior Jobs tax credits from Empire State Development (ESD) for a commitment to retain 37 employees and create 24 new jobs.

The City of Rome was named a DRI Round 2 winner.

Cold Point had “identified the need for a new facility to facilitate growth and the addition of a new manufacturing line and warehouse space,” per Cuomo’s office.

“We are very appreciative of the efforts from ESD, Mohawk Valley EDGE and the City of Rome to realize our vision for a new manufacturing and distribution facility,” said Craig Wanner, president and CEO of the Whalen Company, which owns Cold Point Corp. “Community plays an important role in our culture so the opportunity to be a partner in the Downtown Revitalization Initiative was very exciting to us. It was critical for our future growth to expand our capabilities and remain in Rome for our employees. This project took some time to come to life but we couldn’t be happier with the outcome. We also liked the fact we could use a local contractor, C2C Construction, to handle the project, which they completed on time even during the pandemic. This project is the perfect example of a private/public partnership to enhance the community.”

In 2017, the Whalen Company, which is headquartered in Easton, Maryland, acquired Cold Point Corp., per an August 2018 Empire State Development and New York Job Development Authority document.