Courtesy of Soleno
By Christine Graf
Soleno, a Canadian company that specializes in manufacturing recycled high-density polyethylene pipes, has chosen Saratoga Springs as the location for it’s first U.S. plant. Construction is underway on the $22 million facility, located at 66 Duplainville Road in the W.J. Grande Industrial Park. Munter Enterprises Inc is the General Contractor.
Soleno manufactures storm water management products for the infrastructure, residential, natural resource, and agricultural development sectors. Products include pipes, drains, culverts, catch basins, treatment systems, fittings, and drainage accessories
According to J. Gregory Connors, CEO of Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), his agency was “very much involved” in working to bring Soleno to Saratoga County.
“We prepared an application on Soleno’s behalf for consideration by the county IDA based on a $22 million capital investment in the City of Saratoga Springs. There has been a promise to create 22 full-time jobs in its first year of operation. There will be an additional 35 jobs in the second year, and there will also be 20 +/- construction jobs to build the site.”
Connors said the SEDC is very aggressive in its marketing efforts and that Soleno reached out to the non-profit consulting firm with an initial inquiry.
“There was a lot of back and forth, and although they never disclosed this to me personally, I believe they made several site visits to the area and settled on the space over in the Grande Industrial Park. Companies keep their cards close to their vest, and if I were to sit on the other side of the fence, I think that’s a pretty good strategy.”
According to Catherine Côté, director of marketing and communication at Soleno, the company considered Saratoga Springs to be an ideal location.
“Saratoga is a great location for us as it is an excellent location to serve our Eastern Canadian and American customers with an equidistant location between Toronto, Boston, NY and Montreal. Saratoga is also a location that is close to main highways and favourable for the workforce.”
Soleno’s Saratoga Springs manufacturing facility will measure 45,000 square feet and will be situated on a 22-acre site. Company officials have stated that an additional 25,000 square feet could be added in the future.
“The factory should be up and running later this summer with an official inauguration plan for September,” said Côté.
“Soleno is a very well recognized company in Canada, and we’re very proud that they chose Saratoga County to be the first region in the United States for them to make an investment,” said Connors. “This was a real effort by state and local officials. In addition to the county IDA and SEDC, Empire State Development was involved. We’re all on the same team. We’re all working hard to land this kind of investment. In Soleno’s case, we were successful.”