Facebook website page searching for tips for what’s following at Siemens plant | Olean

OLEAN — Widespread Council President John Crawford started a Fb website page Tuesday afternoon immediately after mastering of Siemens Energy’s choice to shut its Olean producing facility, eradicating 500 work opportunities.

By midday Thursday, the web site — Preserve Olean’s Siemens/ Dresser Rand — experienced 974 associates.

One particular of his 1st posts detailing the determination bundled phone quantities of state and federal elected officers to speak to to categorical worry over the occupation decline. He finished the put up with #All4Olean.

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

The cause for the Facebook page was to give men and women a place where they can assist a person yet another — “especially the range of people who will be afflicted by this enterprise decision,” Crawford said. “I’m hoping for a position to collaborate, brainstorm and pull collectively strategies,” he explained to the Moments Herald in an job interview.

“I am achieving out to top point out and federal officials,” Crawford mentioned. “What we have to have is for the massive guns to step up to the plate and possibly supply some incentives to check out to make Siemens much more lucrative, or, if the die is cast, to find a new tenant for the facility.”

Siemens’ response to the throughout the world slump in the price tag of oil and purely natural fuel is to shut production at the Olean facility and remove 500 employment that pay back $50,000 a calendar year or better, Crawford mentioned, while retaining beneath 400 operating in engineering, study and improvement, and job management.

“That is a $25 million effect to the neighborhood economic system. It is an complete catastrophe. The extra we can appear collectively and assistance each other and collaborate the much better.”

Crawford explained he has also arrived at out to Amazon.

“They are on the lookout for internet sites,” he explained. “There’s a substantial facility here.”

The three most significant buildings on the 88-acre site are 450,000 sq. ft, 310,000 sq. toes and 86,000 square feet. It has a full industry price of $6.9 million and past calendar year paid about $330,000 in home taxes — $160,000 to the Olean City College District, $91,000 to the city and $79,000 to the county.

Crawford acknowledged that Amazon wages are not Siemens Electrical power union wages for machinists and welders — some above $25 an hour, as opposed to $15 an hour beginning wage at Amazon.

“They are going to hold some of the exploration and engineering, but for how prolonged?” Crawford reported. “It is a punch in the intestine. We ended up all blindsided. At the stop of the day, the powers are in Germany. The handwriting was on the wall the minute they marketed it to a business in Germany. Persons in the enterprise really do not know how essential the plant is to our town.”

Crawford explained he’s not wanting to position blame with the Fb web site. “We have to have to put our major boy trousers on and network. There are lots of rich former Dresser-Rand officers. I’m seeking to broker some desire in our facility. I’m hoping to act as a facilitator. We’ve obtained 18 months, let’s not hold out until the last 18 days.”

Crawford said the intestine punch comes at a time when the city “was on this kind of a superior revitalization route.

“We require to pay attention to every single other and chat about the probability of retrofitting the facility for yet another market — quite possibly windmills or solar.”

Now, he stated, “It’s time to pivot. If other probable tenants or homeowners see a passionate community, it might spark some fascination.”

Crawford explained he’s trying to use the Fb page as a forum to test and solve the best problem Olean has confronted in the final 50 a long time.”

City officers are anticipated to announce the creation of a activity power to tackle the Siemens closure of its manufacturing below.

“I can not believe that they’d just mothball the multi-million plant,” Crawford claimed. The Fb web site is a location to have some productive thoughts and conversation. “We need to have to provide optimistic vitality and ideas. We need to have to be recruiting some new businesses. We need to have a huge just one.”

In addition, Crawford claimed neighborhood officers really should be reaching out to remaining companies to see what they want. “We need to have to access out in advance of another person else has to pack up. We will need to have a disaster strategy listed here.”