Matthew White Photo

GREENE – More than 250 Southern Tier students and industry-focused officials attended an open house on Friday, Oct. 2 to celebrate Manufacturing Day and help unveil an expansion project totaling more than 47,000 square feet at the Raymond Corporation headquarters located in Greene.

The Chenango-based worldwide leader in logistics support and electric fork truck engineering hosted the community event marking the confluence of the two occasions with a series of proclamations and speeches from dignitaries and leaders at a formal ceremony prior to a guided tour.

“The overall expansion was really centered around adding a second-story to the existing building that has become our new operations center – which is about 32,000 square feet,” said Raymond President and CEO Michael Field. “The move to do that actually cleared out space on the production floor allowing us to realign the overall plant layout of more than 60,000 square feet.”

“Also on the west side of the building, we've added another employee entrance as well as a very high-bay testing as our products are continuing to grow in height – some in excess of reaching 60 or more feet – to meet out customer demands,” said Field

The Greene plant was lauded by Commerce Chenango President Steve Craig, Village of Greene Mayor Phill Brown and echoed by New York Assemblyman Clifford Crouch for its unwavering commitment to the community and economical impact by way of sustainable jobs creation in the Southern Tier.

Said Crouch, “Just a few years ago, there were 750 - 800 employees, and now they're over 16 hundred. That's hardly believable in today's economy, especially in the Southern Tier.”

While the Raymond expansion has increased the size of its footprint and family, much of the company’s legacy is still grounded by its local ties, strengthening its commitment to community.

“With the more than 90 years in operation here in Greene, many aspects of the company have become very family-like; so it's the commitment of that family-feeling that we have with our employees that allows us to produce really great products,” said Field. “As our organization continues to grow and evolve, it's really about what we believe that impacts what we can do for our customers.”

With regard to hosting over 250 students from across the Southern Tier, the company acknowledges the future need for skilled labor in manufacturing, engineering, management and manufacturing.