By Alex Larsen
Commerce Chenango

In an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” Jim Carrey takes Seinfeld on a tour of his Los Angeles art studio. As the camera sweeps across the room, Carrey is seen hovering over a bin of Golden Artist Colors Paint. I was a little surprised to see a local product pop up there, but I shouldn’t have been.
Products from Chenango County can be found around the world – on supermarket shelves, artist’s palettes, factory floors, and maybe even roaring over your head at 30,000 feet as your read this.
Today, Chenango’s diverse roster of manufacturers spans a multitude of industries, from food processing to the aerospace industry and almost everything in between. October 7th is Manufacturing Day, which gives us an opportunity to recognize all these manufacturers contribute to our community.
Chenango’s manufacturing tradition can be traced t a rich history of innovation that stretches back to the blacksmiths who helped settle the region. And it was, in fact, a blacksmith who helped put Chenango County ‘on the map’ when it comes to manufacturing – and to the attention of a man who would be the 20th president of the United States.
In 1879, James Garfield used him as an example when he addressed the Consolidated Business College in Washington, DC.
“Let me cite an example of a man I recently saw in the little Village of Norwich, NY. If you wish to know his name, go into any hardware store and ask for the best hammer in the World, and if the salesman be an intelligent man he will bring you a hammer made by David Maydole,” Garfield said.
Maydole’s entrepreneurial spirit and story of success no doubt had a great influence on other ambitious people in the area and contributed to a local culture of entrepreneurship.
Today we may not have the Maydole Hammer factory, but we have a number of companies that carry on the tradition of manufacturing excellence and are just as present on the world stage. They come in all shapes and sizes, and are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the current market.
Norwich Pharmaceuticals ranks with Maydole as one of the most impactful and important companies to come out of the county. They’re legacy extends back 127 years. Today they continue to invest in major facility improvements and products.
The Raymond Corporation is another example. They are currently celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the Raymond Reach-Fork truck, the innovative product helped the company make a name for itself. They were named this year as one of the best companies to work for in New York, underlining the contribution they make to the county not just in employment, but quality employment.
Unsion, an aerospace manufacturer, produces the electrical and mechanical components that end up in jet engines. In January they were recertified in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program. The VPP STAR status is granted to companies that have proactive safety and health programs, which range from employee involvement to worksite analysis and hazard prevention. Less than 0.1% of companies receive the designation.
And of course, there is the story of Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya. It’s a familiar one to many in our county, but it demonstrates the potential of upstate New York. Hamdi, who emigrated from Turkey, purchased a shuttered Kraft plant in 2005. He started with 5 people and has since built a world-wide yogurt empire. And it all began right here in Chenango County.
There is a tendency sometimes to focus on manufacturers who turn out the type of product that people everywhere are familiar with. There’s a certain pride in knowing that you could walk into a store anywhere in the world and find a product made in your hometown, but the manufacturers who produce individual components or products for industrial use have a major impact.
One of these companies is Greene Technologies, which was started in the 1920’s and currently employs about 30 people. They make components as part of a chain of production as well as products to be sent straight to the final customer. They’re involved in industries ranging from aerospace to food service making parts typically unseen by the average consumer, but occasionally showing up visibly in doctor’s offices or labs. Their ability to adapt to new market conditions has seen them through a number of industry downturns, and they are currently experiencing the return of contracts previously sourced to Mexico.
Greene Technologies is just one example out of a number of small local manufacturers who aren’t typically brought up in conversations about the area economy, but they are part of the fabric of our community and local economy.
These few examples illuminate the efforts that manufacturers make every day in order to remain competitive and continue contributing to our community. Being a manufacturer in upstate New York isn’t always easy, so I’ll be sure to take a moment this manufacturing day to appreciate those efforts.