by David Flint
Sean Gallivan’s Green Renewable company took over the old W.J. Cowee plant in Berlin two months ago and already signs of a rebirth are evident. For one thing, production of Burn-Rite firewood, the business run by the former Hoosick River Hardwoods company, has been increased by about 50%. [private]A recently purchased additional firewood processor, that includes a tumbler to remove debris, is helping with that. Gallivan, who has a lot of expertise in trucking, also invested in a new delivery truck with a removable forklift. Whereas customers before needed to come to the plant to pick up the firewood, the new truck now allows Green Renewable to deliver the firewood to the customer. Many of those could be customers that the Gallivan companies already serve as clients. The Burn-Rite firewood is kiln dried and certified free of bugs so it can be transported anywhere in the country. Two kilns are currently operating. Plans call for two more vacant ones to be retrofitted and put into operation. Currently most of the firewood is sold within the surrounding 250 miles, but Gallivan plans to expand that.
The weather being as warm as it has been this winter has not been good for firewood sales. But Gallivan said there is an upside to this. It has enabled the new company both to make needed changes to the facility and to build up inventory, putting them in a good position to aggressively seek new customers.
In the first two weeks after starting up Green Renewable, Gallivan spent every day at the plant learning every moving part of the engineering of the entire plant and the firewood production operation. “The best boss knows in a hands-on manner all aspects of the job,” he said. “It’s easier to relate to problems that way.”
Tara Fisher Remains As General Manager
He has already added eight new employees to Green Renewable and another will be hired next week. Tara Fisher, who was General Manager of Hoosick River Hardwoods, has been kept on as General Manager of Green Renewable. She has been there since 1995, starting out in Customer Service. Fisher attributes much of her success as a manager in a male dominated industry to her mentoring by former Cowee President Barbara Davis. Her daily duties at Green Renewable include anything from boiler maintenance to inventory control to working with vendors and customers and facilitating all accounting duties including payroll and accounts receivable.
In November Gallivan had six tenant companies leasing space in various buildings in what he calls the Northeast Green Center Industrial Park. The latest tenant to be added is the Landvest Timber Company that manages the timber lands of the former Cowee company. Landvest will rent space for a log concentration and distribution yard. There are still about 35,000 square feet of building space available for new business tenants. As he builds the Park, Gallivan said he would like to continue to focus on wood products and renewable energy but that does not at all rule out other types of business. He is, in fact, also looking to add more facilities for boat and RV storage.
Parking at the plant has been revamped and spruced up, buildings have been repainted, new bathrooms installed and a break room fixed up for employees, energy efficient lighting installed and many of the buildings have received a new coat of paint.
Biomass Energy
Using existing biomass gasifiers and steam boilers, all of the heating at the plant including in the Burn-Rite operation and buildings housing tenant businesses is provided by burning wood chips. Some of the waste wood for the chips comes from the by product of the firewood operation, but much of it is now trucked in from Gallivan’s other company, S.M.Gallivan LLC of Troy. Gallivan plans to resurrect and improve on an existing turbine and generator system to produce electricity for the plant and possibly for sale to the grid. He has been working with engineers and architects on this wood-fired combined heat/power (CHP) system and has applied for a grant through the New York Open For Business Program. Although not successful in the first round of funding, he plans to pursue the grant as well as the project. Without funding he may update just the turbine and use the existing generator to provide power to the plant and its tenants, with a small fraction of excess to go to the grid. If sufficient grant funds are forthcoming, he would update the entire system with the result that a considerable amount of excess electricity could be sold to the grid. In any case, Gallivan sees CHP as the core of his Industrial Park. It is carbon-neutral and eco-friendly and will provide affordable power to Green Renewable and its tenant businesses.
Another project in the planning stage is a solar farm to augment the steam powered system. He has already met with solar providers and manufacturers of solar equipment and is considering either a roof top or a field mounted installation.
A Passion For Business
Gallivan got started as a business man at the age of 12. He and his eight year old brother Brendan, inspired by their grandfather’s work ethic and fanatic passion for keeping a well-trimmed lawn and garden, began mowing lawns around the Town of Brunswick. Sean began doing business as S.M.Gallivan Trucking while still in high school. His company later became S.M. Gallivan LLC, specializing in truck transportation, manufacturing of landscape supplies, wood waste recycling, concrete and asphalt crushing and the commerce of agricultural commodities. Brendan started a company called Gallivan Lawn Service, now the Gallivan Corporation, a landscaping company. Both companies work closely together.
Sean Gallivan was attracted to Berlin because he saw a wealth of natural resources, a labor market and potential synergies between his company and Hoosick River Hardwoods that would be beneficial to both in the form of a new company. Both had resources that the other needed. With the demise of the Cowee company, the successor company had lost some of its structure. S.M. Gallivan could provide that structure, he thought, and enable the reestablishment of a Cowee-like presence in Berlin.
Legal Woes For The Company In Brunswick
S.M.Gallivan last month was informed that the Town of Brunswick Zoning Board of Appeals had rejected their appeal of a ruling that their mulch making operation off of Oakwood Avenue was in violation of zoning laws. Although
the operation had been there for nine years, when residential neighbors complained about noise and odors, they were ruled in violation. The issue is currently in litigation. Under an Article 78 proceeding. S.M.Gallivan obtained a temporary stay that enables them to continue operating in the area pending a hearing scheduled for April. Gallivan would only say that the success of the Oakwood plant is due to its logistical location, close to Interstate highways, commerce and positioned ideally for their markets. There is no way, he said, that this operation could be moved to Berlin and maintain profitability.
Green Renewable in Berlin, he concluded, will build and prosper and grow, as have the other Gallivan companies, and this growth doesn’t need business to be taken from those other companies. “There will be opportunities for local business people and employment,” he said.[/private]