(Watervliet, New York): -- Congressman Michael McNulty (D-Green Island) has announced that the U.S. Army has awarded a new five year contract to the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership to be the exclusive economic developer for the Watervliet Arsenal site.

“I know the Army is very pleased with the progress at Watervliet, and this was one of the main reasons the Arsenal was so successful in the last round of base closings in 2005,” McNulty said.

The Partnership has brought sixteen new businesses to the site, creating approximately 150 new jobs, and has renovated more than 100,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space. Another 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space is currently under renovation, and should be available for occupancy in the spring of 2007.

“This will be state-of-the art space for high-tech manufacturing companies and R&D firms. There are already several American and European companies taking a serious look at that building,” said McNulty.

The site manager contract was the first of its kind for the Arsenal’s command - the Army Tank and Automotive Command in Warren, Michigan - and it empowers the Partnership to market the site, execute contracts with tenants for up to 25 years, undertake building and site renovations, and plan for future development with the Army. As part of the existing contract, the Partnership has produced a new master plan for the site with the Arsenal and Benet Labs that is the blueprint for the future.

“Together with the city, the county, and the Congressional delegation, the Partnership has established the Watervliet Arsenal as a major presence in the Capital Region’s fast-growing technology economy,” McNulty added.

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The Arsenal Partnership is a not-for-profit local development corporation created in 1999 to redevelop underutilized space at the Watervliet Arsenal. Since 2001 the Partnership has obtained $20 million in private and public investment for the site, and has attracted more than a dozen high-tech companies to the campus. Tenant companies work in precision coatings, advanced ceramics, high-tech plastics, homeland defense technologies, software development, security consulting, and clean room construction.

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