SOLAQUA: Sundog Solar
by Ross Rice
...Sounded good to Jody, who remembered good times up north, so he bugged his dad about it whenever he could. One day Sol called in Jody to tell him: I want you to run the magnet business, and move it upstate. Jody smiled. Great idea, Dad…glad you thought of it…
So in 1984, Jody was looking around Columbia County, and became very interested in a particular piece of property just outside of Chatham. A warehouse that was at the north end of Columbia Box Board paper mill, where newspaper and cardboard went in one end, and came out paperboard and chipboard the other. The warehouse was steam-heated underground by the mill, was the perfect size, and there was a good deal on the lease.
The very building we’re sitting in now.
But the deal didn’t go through. Columbia Box Board was in sales negotiations with York Paper for the whole property, and York let it be known they wouldn’t honor the lease if the deal went through, so Jody set up shop in Hudson instead. The York deal fell apart, and Columbia contiued on at the mill property.
Fast-forward to twelve years later, the owners of the mill suddenly announced that they were closing. In two weeks. This was a bit of a surprise, as the mill had been pretty active, operating 24/7, with a lot of work making game boards for Massachusetts’ Parker Brothers. Apparently, necessary growth for the mill was difficult due to the site being somewhat squeezed between the road and the active railroad line, so they wanted out quickly. Still interested in that just-right warehouse space, Jody inquired about subdividing it off, but was told it was the whole mill or nothing. Two years later, Jody got the whole thing, including 200 acres of land on both sides of the railroad track...
CONTINUE...
|
