Smardt expands P'burgh operation
Mar. 3—PLATTSBURGH — Manufacturer Smardt Chiller Group announced Tuesday plans to expand operations at its Town of Plattsburgh-based facility, a decision Garry Douglas said reflected the company's "smart" choice to plant roots here more than a decade ago.
"And now we obviously believe, and I'm sure they do as well, that another smart Smardt decision has been made," the North Country Chamber of Commerce president said at a Tuesday morning presser.
WHAT IS SMARDT
Smardt Chiller Group, a high-efficiency and oil-free chiller manufacturer, is headquartered in Montreal and has six manufacturing facilities across six countries: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
"We develop, design and manufacture world-class, innovative technology used to provide cooling to hospitals, to data centers, to pharmaceuticals for their manufacturing processes and their storage," Smardt CEO Vince Canino said Tuesday, before adding, as an example, "for the vaccines that we're just seeing now that are being released at a record pace."
Canino thought oil-free cooling products in general weren't as "sexy" or "exciting" as that of other green industries, like wind and solar.
"But if we're truly going to help our environment, then we need to embrace revolutionary technology that reduces energy consumption where it counts," he said. "That is in our buildings, which are the largest consumers of energy."
That was where Smardt Chiller Group came in. Its products were said to have 20 percent to 40 percent energy savings, which equated to "millions of kilowatt hours that are saved over the lifetime of that equipment," Canino said, adding that fossil fuel power plant demands would also decrease.
"That's how we truly have an impact on reducing greenhouse gases and our carbon footprint," the CEO continued. "Oil-free chillers are not sexy, but the energy savings — in fact the total number of ownership savings — are truly exciting."
HARD SELL
The CEO admitted the products were more expensive than the "tried and true," saying the high price tag today made them a hard sell, despite the savings of tomorrow.
"Many of our customers struggle to understand and embrace the idea of saving energy downstream," Canino said, noting that his employees were tasked with altering the status quo.
"They have to re-shift the paradigm and get the owners to understand that this is a different approach and the way we save energy over a 20-year period is a different mindset."
NEW TRAINING SITE
Smardt Chiller Group's U.S. site opened in 2010 at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base on Colorado Street in the Town of Plattsburgh.
As of Tuesday, it became the site of the company's new training center, which would offer regularly-scheduled certification programs for U.S.-based technicians.
The site planned to conduct 12 training sessions a year, which, depending on the pandemic, could have class sizes between eight and 20 individuals. Experience level would vary and could include those fresh out of school looking to enter the industry or technicians for Smardt Chiller Group technology certification.
"We'll be working with the team here on site to facilitate maximum partnerships with resources like Clinton Community College and CVTEC," Douglas added.
The first training was held Tuesday at 8 a.m. and Canino said there was a need for such as the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) workforce was aging.
"I think the average age right now is in the mid-50's," he said. "It's been very hard to get the younger generation to come in and learn this trade; it's a very valuable trade, it's a very challenging trade and — actually — it's a very good way to earn a living."
OFFICIALS EXCITED
Several North Country elected officials expressed excitement over Smardt's latest Plattsburgh investment, including Clinton County Legislature Chair Mark Henry.
"We appreciate Smardt's confidence in our area, in our people, in our region by furthering your U.S. footprint here at our airport," he said. "I would be remiss if I didn't thank (Legislator) Bobby Hall and the members of the (Legislature) Airport Committee for the work that they've done with your corporation with the help of the chamber — we appreciate that very much.
"We look forward to your technicians coming here, using our airport, staying at our hotels, eating at our restaurants and, hopefully, visiting Chazy, NY; we would be very happy to see you there."
Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman reiterated the possible economic impacts of the new training site, saying the manufacturer was a part of the "collective."
"While you may be in the footprint of the Town of Plattsburgh, it certainly is a regional win and the chairman hit upon that," Cashman said. "Congratulations and we look forward to the many successful things in your future."
'UNTOLD STORY'
Douglas thought the resilience of the North Country's manufacturers was an "untold story" of the continued COVID-19 pandemic and said Smardt's recent expansion was one of many examples.
"Most of them stayed open from the very beginning as essential manufacturing activities," Douglas said. "They safely looked after their staff, they worked with us at the chamber and with others to make sure that they ran their operations safely, but also kept going, kept providing employment, kept the economy going as much as they could in this area. . .
"Smardt is a part of that. Smardt, and so many of our area manufacturers, rather than pulling back, rather than being the turtle pulling its head into the shell, they looked to the future," he continued. "In this case, as in many others in the area, (they) continued to reimagine, rethink, reinvest, reposition for the future economy post-pandemic.
"This is one of those stories."
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Twitter: @McKenzieDelisle
