Mesa Technical Associates is one of Cobleskill’s best-kept secrets.
Unless you live somewhere like Baltimore, Brazil, or maybe even Afghanistan.
The small manufacturing facility moved from the former Guilford North plant to the old P&C a few months ago.
There, 10 employees under the direction of Chuck Finin build backup power systems for customers like Baltimore Gas & Electric.
Mesa-Tec’s primary customers are public utilities and telecommunications companies, Mr. Finin, a former consultant for General Electric said; every system is custom-designed and engineered.
Where shoppers once lined up with carts of groceries, Mesa-Tec, employees Brian Walrath and Mike Lent have spent the past few weeks building out two maintenance trailers for Baltimore Gas & Electric.
BGE, Mr. Finin said, serves the Washington, DC area and sought out Mesa-Tec because they were concerned a power outage could compromise sensitive security throughout the nation’s Capitol.
“They wanted options. They wanted to know what we could do for them,” Mr. Finin explained.
“Systems can take months to design, build, deliver, and install, but they needed to be ready for emergencies.
The answer was the mobile maintenance trailers Mr. Walrath and Mr. Lent will be finishing up in the next few weeks.
“They’d never seen something like this before, but now they’ve built it,” Mr. Finin said.
“To see young people challenge themselves like this is rewarding. I’m there for backup, but for the most part, I just let them go.”
Housing what is essentially a back-up battery system, the trailers can be backed up and plugged in wherever they’re needed.
Not only can trailers like the ones built for BGE be used in emergencies, Mr. Finin said, but they can be plugged in to take the main systems offline for routine maintenance without disrupting service.
In addition to engineering, designing and building DC battery systems, Mesa-Tec installs, removes, recycles and tests batteries for customers around the world—something that requires employee Matt Sweeney, who handles purchases and shipping, to keep track of where the euro’s at and the fastest way to get parts from Germany to Cobleskill or from Cobleskill to South America.
Mesa-Tec’s projects range from the $1 million-plus job they’re working on now for Sprint to one worth about $3,000 for hydropower on the Black River.
In a contact that came through the firm’s internet site, they’re also working with a customer developing mobile wind turbines that could be used in, of all places, Afghanistan.
A kite would generate the energy, which would then be stored in a Mesa-Tec designed battery system.
The advantage over more traditional turbines, Mr. Finin explained, is that are no propellers for the Taliban to shoot off.
“There are only two of these in the world,” he said. “We built the system for the first and are applying what we learned there to the second. We’re hoping it’s something Washington might be interested in.”
Though it exists mostly behind the scenes, Mr. Finin pointed out that manufacturing in Schoharie County is “huge.”
“Local people have the kind of skills we’re looking for and a good work ethic,” he said.
“They want to learn. Add to that the quality of life we have here and it becomes our job to create opportunities. I’m very proud of our entire team.”
So is the team.
“It’s frustrating at times, trying to put the pieces together, but we all like a challenge,” laughed Mr. Walrath, who started out with an Agricultural Engineering degree from SUNY Cobleskill.
Mr. Lent, the newest member of the team, has a lifelong self-taught interest in electronics.
And he has a skill the rest of his co-workers joke is priceless.
“I went to school as a paramedic,” he said to laughter. “We always say it’s a good combination.”