OSWEGO — A new climate-controlled warehouse to help serve the region’s semiconductor, renewable energy, and advanced-manufacturing industries is coming to the Port of Oswego. It will use more than $11 million in federal funding to build the facility. The money will help replace a decades-old, damaged warehouse with the Great Lakes’ first climate-controlled warehouse at […]
OSWEGO — A new climate-controlled warehouse to help serve the region’s semiconductor, renewable energy, and advanced-manufacturing industries is coming to the Port of Oswego. It will use more than $11 million in federal funding to build the facility. The money will help replace a decades-old, damaged warehouse with the Great Lakes’ first climate-controlled warehouse at a port with access to rail, road, and water, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced Nov. 13. The funding comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Law, the lawmakers noted. The project’s total cost is nearly $23.5 million, per an announcement from the Port of Oswego. “The warehouse will be transformative for both the Port, and for all of Upstate NY, because it will be the only climate-controlled warehouse with access to rail, road, and water, making it uniquely suited to support the largest chip fabrication facilities in New York State,” William Scriber, executive director of the Port of Oswego, said in the Schumer announcement. “It will be filled immediately with business from customers who have contacted us seeking climate-controlled storage, helping generate new job growth in our community.” The new Port of Oswego warehouse will be a steel framed, metal-clad structure standing 30 feet tall with 22,500 square feet of climate-controlled storage for goods and products sensitive to humidity and temperature, specifically allowing for controlled temperatures ranging from just above freezing to 70 degrees, Schumer’s office said. The climate-controlled warehouse is “critical” for the Port of Oswego to support growing demand for the storage of climate-sensitive goods and products, including materials, chemicals, and gasses used in microchip manufacturing. That includes the more than $100 billion investment by Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) in the town of Clay, wind and solar-energy components, and infrastructure supporting hydrogen production. “Strong port infrastructure like this is essential for Upstate NY’s booming chips, manufacturing, agriculture, and other industries,” Schumer said in the announcement. “This new state-of-the-art storage facility will mean more business at our port, access to critical infrastructure to help industries grow in the area, and new opportunities to create more jobs, jobs, jobs.” Schumer’s office went on to say that the Port of Oswego currently operates a 40,000-square-foot, timber-framed warehouse constructed in the 1980s. In 2013, the warehouse’s south end collapsed during a storm due to snow and wind damage. Despite repairs, the warehouse remains in bad shape, leaving tens of thousands of square-feet of prime shipping and logistics space underutilized, “limiting Port operations.” The federal funding will also help replace the outdated guard house to accommodate the Port’s evolving security needs, monitor all traffic entering and exiting the Port, and ensure personnel, asset, and freight safety, Schumer’s office said.