PROGRESS 2008

Green business is good Business in Syracuse and Central New York

Think Green: Concern for the planet pushes businesses to go green

by Tim Knauss, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 8:14 PM

Frank Ordoñez/The Post-StandardThe Northeast Biofuels plant is under construction in Volney. It will start turning corn into ethanol this summer.

By May or June, Northeast Biofuels expects to finish construction of a $168 million ethanol plant at the former Miller brewery outside Fulton.

At that point, it will begin consuming 41 million bushels of corn per year, converting it into automotive fuel.

"When you get one of these plants going, you've created a beast that has to be fed," said Eric Will II, of Pompey, one of the founders of Northeast Biofuels. "This thing that we're building in Fulton, it's a beast, and it's going to consume corn like there's no tomorrow."

That's good news for regional corn growers, who will provide up to one-fifth of the $160 million in corn that Northeast Biofuels expects to buy every year.

But it may be bad news for poor people in developing countries. They're likely to pay more for their food imports, or to go hungry if they can't pay more.

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CNY farmers find demand for organic foods had had double-digit growth for the past decade

by Debra J. Groom, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 8:10 PM

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardJamie and Maggie Edelstein of Cato are organic farmers. They are holding two of their hens outside their henhouse.

Jamie Edelstein is a new, young farmer who decided it's good for his customers, good for the environment and good for himself to be organic.

"One of my big questions is how necessary are all the chemicals," he said. "You won't ever hear me say it's better, but the demand is growing. We get referrals from people who want organic food."

Edelstein, 33, and his wife, Maggie, operate Wyllie Fox Farm, on Allen Road, in Cato. They grow all types of organic vegetables, including 18 varieties of tomatoes.

Edelstein hopes to grow 30 tomato varieties this year.

Edelstein said "you can't pick up a newspaper today without reading something about organic" foods. He has a farm background, but when he decided to begin farming in 2003, he decided to be organic.

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Cortland company will make biodiesel ... unless it can earn more by selling vegetable oil.

by Tim Knauss, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 8:07 PM

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardMason H. Somerville is the president of Empire AgriFuel LLC in Cortland.

A company affiliated with Morrisville State College plans to build a $21 million plant in Cortland County to make biodiesel -- or maybe not to make biodiesel.

Empire AgriFuel LLC is hedging its bets.

The company is building two complementary facilities in Cortlandville: a crush plant to turn oilseeds such as soybeans or canola into vegetable oil and meal; and an adjacent facility to convert vegetable oil into biodiesel.

Whether both facilities run depends on the prices of vegetable oil and biodiesel at the time, said Mason Somerville, company president.

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Green architects can persuade people to pay the upfront costs of efficiency

by Bob Niedt, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 8:02 PM

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardWayne V. La France, left, and Peter C. Sorber are partners of Lake Architectural, a green business in Marcellus.

It isn't easy building green.

For one thing, the upfront costs are usually higher than they are in traditional building.

So for architects who build green -- or want to -- persuading clients to go green to save in the long term is often a tricky task.

One such firm is Lake Architectural Group in Marcellus. One way to help its clients in making the green decisions was for Lake Architectural to show them the way.

"We said with green, if we were going to talk that talk, we're going to have to walk the walk," said Wayne La France, who, with partner Pete Sorber, founded Lake Architectural Group in 2004. "So we made a conscious decision to make our own building LEED-certified silver. We're almost there."

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Customers pushed wood furniture company toward green manufacturing

by Rick Moriarty, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 7:58 PM

David Lassman / The Post-StandardArtistry in Wood located in East Syracuse has adopted green manufacturing practices. Scott Carone, left, and Bill Elam clean a recently built maple dictionary stand before it's shipped to a library in Georgia. It's a veneer material which is formaldehyde free.

McCartney, owner of Artistry in Wood, began adopting green manufacturing practices a couple of years ago, after customers began requiring products friendly to the environment. The East Syracuse company makes wood furniture, bookshelves and display cases for libraries.

"We get a lot of requests for green manufacturing," said McCartney, who founded Artistry in Wood in 1992 and incorporated the company in 1993. "It's something that's really up and coming. It's coming off the architects' pens that way."

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Harnessing the Tides: Consultants aid power projects on both coasts

by Tim Knauss, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 7:55 PM

It might seem odd that companies harnessing the power of ocean tides would come to Syracuse in search of technical help. The nearest ocean is 200 miles away.

But consultants from the Salina office of Devine Tarbell & Associates have worked on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They're helping to license novel power projects that make electricity from ocean waves or currents.

Drawing on their experience with hydroelectric plants across Central and Northern New York, consultants from Devine Tarbell help tidal power developers navigate the regulatory requirements to get their projects licensed by the federal government.

"The minute you try to put something in the water, it's a federal action," said Jim Gibson, regional manager for Devine Tarbell, based in Portland, Maine. "You're talking about literally years of study and permitting."

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Syracuse company develops technology to improve monitoring of water contaminants

by Tom Leo, The Post-Standard

Friday February 08, 2008, 7:50 PM

John Berry / The Post-StandardMark McPike, chief scientific officer (left) and research assistant James Crill of OrthoSystems pose with the E.coli and coliform dectector they hope will be used by water ditribution systems.

Imagine, chemist Mark McPike says, if someone were to intentionally contaminate a water system in the Syracuse area.

"If the pipes are full of (contamination), the city is closing down," McPike said. "Our water is that important to us."

McPike is co-owner of OrthoSystems of Syracuse, a company whose research is primarily being done at Syracuse University. The goal is to deliver a device that will automatically measure E. coli, coliform bacteria and free chlorine residual in drinking water to give water system managers the ability to monitor and more quickly respond to emergencies.

A prototype is being tested. Production for systems that can be sold to water authorities, cruise lines and hotels -- or any company concerned about liability if people get sick from contaminated water -- is expected to begin this year. Four versions of the systems are expected to sell for between $2,000 and $4,000, said co-owner Peter Kent, the project director.

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