Updated 02/16/2010 08:06 AM
Oneonta green manufacturing company expands
You many never have heard of green ultra-capacitors, but their development has potential to revolutionize not only hybrid electronic technology, but the Southern Tier as well. An Oneonta company is one of a handful nationwide to produce the products, and as our Janelle Burrell tells us, their plans for expansion will mean a major boost to the local economy.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
ONEONTA, N.Y. -- They may come in a small package, but these ultra capacitor cells are revolutionizing hybrid electricity in a big way.
"Electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, renewable wind, solar, the ultra capacitors really enable all of these technologies," explained Ioxus COO Chad Hall.
And now with $1.4 million of federal funding, Ioxus will be able to further develop that technology with help from Binghamton University researchers to meet an overwhelming demand. By year's end they plan to more than triple their workforce from 20 to 65 employees. Long term they foresee as many as 300.
"There are going to be jobs for high-end executives, there are going to be jobs for researchers and there are going to be jobs for average Joes and Jills who work making the product," said Sen. Chuck Schumer who helped the company secure the funding.
Right now, Ioxus is the only company to produce the capacitors completely within the United States.
"We have 21 patent applications in, we have a lot of really good technology that we feel we have the best product on the market," Hall said.
Local officials welcome the company's growth, which they say is sure to stimulate the local economy.
"Three-hundred jobs in this area would make this company the third or fourth largest employer, so it would have a major impact," said Oneonta's mayor, Dick Miller.
Ioxus leaders are already looking ahead to creating a new niche in the industry.
"We're really looking at leveraging how we can make other technologies work to hybridize them to make a real energy storage solution," said Hall.
It’s a solution with benefits that promises to resonate well beyond their facility to the Otsego community as a whole.