$4MM EDA Grant to Port of Oswego
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded the Port of Oswego (located on Lake Ontario, just north of Syracuse, N.Y.) a $4 million grant to improve rail infrastructure and purchase new cargo handling equipment. The funding will provide the Port with essential equipment and railroad infrastructure upgrades, leading to 19 new jobs, increased export capacity and better access to global markets for local businesses, officials noted.
The $4 million federal investment will support procurement of a radial telescopic ship loader conveyer and upgrades to railroad tracks at the Port, supporting local producers and businesses by increasing the Port’s capacity to access domestic and international markets. The port offers multi-modal connectivity, enabling it to “economically and efficiently handle cargoes, as it offers international and domestic shippers year-round access to industrial and agricultural markets,” officials noted. “While the Port of Oswego has been expanding its capacity to increase the handling of agricultural products, its loading and unloading capabilities have been limited because it uses a small portable conveyer, limiting its ability to meet customers’ calls for an increase in exports. Now, thanks to EDA funding, the Port of Oswego will be able to acquire new equipment and make the necessary upgrades to modernize and diversify its operations and infrastructure.”
The Port of Oswego, the first port on the Great Lakes system and the only deep water port on Lake Ontario, has four operating businesses that use its harbor and two marinas, which “are integral to Central New York’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors,” officials added. “Long a major economic driver for Oswego County and Central New York, the Port has in recent years added new equipment and updated aging infrastructure, marketing more aggressively, improving customer relations and focusing on government partnership. As a result, it now accounts for 63% of the business revenue, 49% of the economic activity and 43% of local purchases of the New York ports on the Great Lakes. Waterborne transportation facilitated by the Port supports $24.4 million in business revenue, 119 direct, indirect and induced jobs, and $8 million in labor income to the transportation sector. Since 2018, the Port has made more than a $500 million impact on New York’s economy, making it a major contributor to the overall economic viability of Upstate New York.”
“This $4 million grant adds to the $513 million in economic momentum we’ve generated during the past five years, according to a just-released joint U.S./Canadian study,” said William Scriber, Executive Director of the Port of Oswego Authority. “This funding will allow us to expand our rail operations and purchase a new ship loader to better serve our customers, grow our export capacity, attract new business and help local businesses reach global markets. This is also part of our expanding efforts to make it easier for regional farmers to work with us to export grain. As the only deep-water port on Lake Ontario, our grain storage and handling facility is of critical importance to regional farmers and New York State’s presence in international markets.”
CSX serves the Port via its Fulton Subdivision (originally part of the former Northern Division of the New York, Ontario & Western). At North Syracuse, the Fulton Subdivision connects with CSX’s St. Lawrence Subdivision, which in turn connects with the Mohawk Division (former New York Central/Penn Central/Conrail) portion of CSX’s Chicago-Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo-Albany-Boston main line.
