Eastern Forest Products, the New Hampshire-based company that has taken over Cobleskill’s Mills Services on MacArthur Avenue, is hoping to get a $180,000 Empire State Development grant—and leverage it into a $4.58 million project.
If approved, the grant would go toward purchasing the real estate and assets of Mills Services, renovating and upgrading the facility, and purchasing and installing new machinery and equipment, retaining 52 jobs and creating 15 new ones by January 1, 2011.
The grant proposal was the subject of a public hearing Friday in Cobleskill.
Eastern Forest Products’ Eastern Forest Jointing/EFJ Inc. was formed in March 2007 for the purpose of acquiring Mill Services, a wood products company that manufactures finger joint products for redistribution throughout the Eastern United States .
According to the grant request, EFP had long been Mill Services largest customer.
The housing market slowdown, coupled with health issues of Mill Services owner, forced the Cobleskill company to consider closing.
Instead, the two businesses reached an agreement, with EFP forming EFJ to buy Mill Services’ assets and keep the business running under the Mill Services name.
The sale was completed in March 2007.
Even before the sale was completed, EFJ was running Mill Services and was able to add 10 employees to the existing 42 and put on a second shift; another six were added after Empire State Development offered the company an incentive grant last March.
Schoharie County’s Planning and Development Agency and local Empire Zone officials are also seeking state approval to have it designated as a “Regionally Significant Project,” a step that could qualify for additional tax and utility incentives under the Empire Zone program.
There’s still no word on that application, Jody Zakrevsky, the county’s Economic Development coordinator, said Friday.
Much of what EFJ manufacturers is sold under private labels for companies like Home Depot and includes baseboards, moldings, and flooring, General Manager Jim Bender told Village Trustee Bill Gilmore during a break in Friday’s hearing
Mr. Gilmore was one of only two people to speak; both he and Deputy Mayor Sandy MacKay said they weren’t speaking on behalf of the village board, “but it’s safe to say they all support it,” Mr. MacKay said.
 “It’s good to see a use coming forward as far as the facility and the jobs associated with it and it’ll be a benefit to the community,” Mr. Gilmore said.
Mr. MacKay agreed, pointing out the village is already working on improvements to MacArthur Avenue, including paving, upgraded drainage, and sidewalks.
“It’s appropriate for the village and the county to support and retain this employment,” he said.
To get the grant. EFJ must have at least 67 fulltime employees by January 2011, a deadline they expect to meet well before then; as many as 100 employees and three shifts could be added over the next few years.
Empire State Development officials said they don’t anticipate any problems with the grant.
ESF/EFJ/Mill Services is one of the largest operations of its kind on the East Coast, Mr. Bender said, utilizing only eastern white pine.
At various times the MacArthur Avenue facility has been known as: Burton Industries in the 1970s, Karpin Systems and KSI Building Products in the 1980s, and Mill Services, beginning in 1993, when it was bought by Carl Dennis of Brattleboro, Vermont.