Fb webpage trying to find ideas for what is actually following at Siemens plant | Olean

OLEAN — Typical Council President John Crawford started off a Facebook website page Tuesday afternoon just after mastering of Siemens Energy’s decision to shut its Olean producing facility, eradicating 500 work.

By midday Thursday, the website page — Help you save Olean’s Siemens/ Dresser Rand — had 974 members.

A single of his initially posts detailing the decision included phone quantities of condition and federal elected officers to call to specific issue more than the task reduction. He ended the submit with #All4Olean.

Crawford, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, formerly worked at the Olean plant. His grandfather labored for Clark Brothers, an before operator of the plant.

The reason for the Facebook website page was to give persons a area the place they can assist one a different — “especially the amount of families who will be affected by this enterprise conclusion,” Crawford claimed. “I’m hoping for a location to collaborate, brainstorm and pull together thoughts,” he informed the Instances Herald in an job interview.

“I am achieving out to prime point out and federal officials,” Crawford stated. “What we will need is for the major guns to action up to the plate and both give some incentives to try out to make Siemens extra successful, or, if the die is forged, to come across a new tenant for the facility.”

Siemens’ response to the all over the world slump in the value of oil and purely natural gasoline is to close production at the Olean facility and get rid of 500 work that pay back $50,000 a year or better, Crawford explained, although maintaining beneath 400 operating in engineering, analysis and growth, and venture management.

“That is a $25 million effect to the community economic system. It’s an complete catastrophe. The a lot more we can come together and help every single other and collaborate the much better.”

Crawford mentioned he has also attained out to Amazon.

“They are looking for web-sites,” he stated. “There’s a significant facility right here.”

The a few greatest properties on the 88-acre web page are 450,000 sq. feet, 310,000 sq. toes and 86,000 square toes. It has a total current market value of $6.9 million and previous year paid out about $330,000 in assets taxes — $160,000 to the Olean City Faculty District, $91,000 to the metropolis and $79,000 to the county.

Crawford acknowledged that Amazon wages are not Siemens Vitality union wages for machinists and welders — some about $25 an hour, in contrast to $15 an hour starting up income at Amazon.

“They are going to preserve some of the research and engineering, but for how extensive?” Crawford stated. “It is a punch in the intestine. We have been all blindsided. At the close of the working day, the powers are in Germany. The handwriting was on the wall the minute they marketed it to a organization in Germany. Men and women in the business really do not know how critical the plant is to our metropolis.”

Crawford mentioned he’s not hunting to location blame with the Fb website page. “We require to put our massive boy trousers on and network. There are loads of rich former Dresser-Rand officials. I’m seeking to broker some desire in our facility. I’m striving to act as a facilitator. We’ve bought 18 months, let us not hold out until eventually the final 18 days.”

Crawford explained the intestine punch will come at a time when the town “was on this sort of a good revitalization path.

“We want to pay attention to every single other and converse about the chance of retrofitting the facility for an additional field — quite possibly windmills or solar.”

Now, he claimed, “It’s time to pivot. If other likely tenants or house owners see a passionate local community, it might spark some desire.”

Crawford said he’s seeking to use the Fb web site as a discussion board to try and remedy the best problem Olean has faced in the last 50 yrs.”

City officers are predicted to announce the creation of a activity power to address the Siemens closure of its production here.

“I just can’t feel they’d just mothball the multi-million plant,” Crawford reported. The Facebook webpage is a put to have some effective tips and conversation. “We need to have to carry favourable energy and thoughts. We require to be recruiting some new employers. We want a significant a single.”

In addition, Crawford said neighborhood officers ought to be reaching out to remaining organizations to see what they have to have. “We need to reach out before someone else has to pack up. We need to have a crisis plan below.”