Fulton County’s Crossroads Business Park Offers View of Adirondacks
bruce whitcavitch, business, crossroads business park, culture, customized construction, epimed international inc., lisa mccoy, mohawk valley,
The amenities are many in the Crossroads Business Park‚ but there’s one in particular that Bruce Whitcavitch enjoys.
“You can’t beat the view‚” he says. “We’re looking south over the top of Route 29 and out into the Mohawk Valley. We love it here.”
Whitcavitch is the vice president of operations for Epimed International Inc.‚ which became the first tenant of the Crossroads Business Park in 2001. With 52 employees in Fulton County‚ Epimed designs and manufactures a wide range of products for the safe and effective management of acute and chronic pain. The company works closely with physicians to develop and commercialize needles‚ catheters and catheter introducers; one of its newest products is the Micro-Tens™‚ an electrical nerve stimulator about the size of a credit card that is worn as a patch to treat pain.
Epimed International is just the type of tenant that the Crossroads Business Park was developed to serve – light manufacturers with office space‚ high-technology operations‚ financial institutions and healthcare-related offices.
The Crossroads Business Park is one of three parks owned by the Fulton County Economic Development Corp. The Johnstown Industrial Park and the Crossroads Industrial Park are home to larger operations such as heavier manu facturing‚ warehousing and distribution‚ and both are near capacity. On the other hand‚ the Crossroads Business Park – just north of the Crossroads Industrial Park – is literally open for business.
“When we started moving forward‚ what did we do right? We put the infrastructure in‚ so that was ready to go‚” explains Lisa McCoy‚ marketing director of the Fulton County EDC.
Now new tenants – two medical offices and Wachovia Securities – are occupying an office building constructed by the Crossroads Incubator Corp.‚ a real-estate affiliate of the Fulton County EDC.
“People have multiple options when they come to us‚” McCoy explains. “They can purchase the land and construct‚ or they can work through us‚ and we’ll do the construction. We will build and lease it back to them‚ or they can have us build it‚ and then they can own it.”
McCoy predicts that the next building constructed by the Crossroads Incubator Corp. “might not even look like it’s an office building. It probably will have more of an Adirondacks feel to it‚ just like the park itself‚ where there are trees and hilly terrain and a beautiful view from the top of the park.”
She says she expects more and more interest from potential tenants “now that people can go there‚ and they like what they see.”
That wouldn’t surprise Whitcavitch‚ who says‚ “It seems like there’s been significant local interest. People are asking me‚ ‘Hey‚ what’s going on up there? It looks good.’ ” While he acknowledges with a laugh that the solitude during the early years was agreeable‚ he adds‚ “Having more neighbors and friends is always nice.”
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
