Cobleskill company outgrows emissions permit

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

A wood products business is seeing so much growth that its owner is applying for a new permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Mill Services Inc., which makes detailed moldings and other products for the construction industry, is applying to upgrade the permit required of facilities that produce emissions including volatile organic compounds.

The permit under consideration, currently in the midst of a public comment period, sets specific limits on the amount of emissions the facility can produce.

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For more information on the permit request, visit www.dec.ny.gov.

According to the state DEC’s environmental notice bulletin, the emission caps are being established related to the surface coating work that takes place during the final stages of production at the plant.

Company owner Jim Bender said demand for the company’s products has been growing so fast the facility was approaching the limits of emissions it was allowed to produce under its current permit.

The company erected a new building last year because it was running out of room. Over the past five years, the plant, located on MacArthur Avenue in Cobleskill, has grown from 50 employees to 70, he said.

Bender said he’s unsure whether the growth in demand for building products signals a boost in the economy, because he didn’t feel any pinch from the slowdown several years ago.

“We’re lucky that we’ve never slowed down. I think we’re in a unique market,” he said.

Most people aren’t aware of the fact that the Cobleskill plant’s products wind up in local stores. Once complete, trim boards, fascia boards and other products are sent to distribution centers for large retailers, wrapped with the retailer’s name and sent to home improvement stores in the Capital Region and beyond.

Bender said he’s able to go to local home improvement stores and check up on his company’s work.

The facility in the village served as a window manufacturing plant until 15 years ago, when it shifted to a concentration on molding and interior finishing pieces.

Mill Services was an offshoot of the window business at the time, and Bender said he built on that line of products.