Blowing in the wind

For anyone that has stopped by to read this blog you will see that we do not post very regularly. Frankly, we post when there is news that most do not report on. At the risk of sounding repeative viva-ve a prior post "Which Way is the Wind Blowin" we felt it was important to report on a press conference that took place in Poughkeepsie on Wednesday, October 15.

A startup company AeroCity, LLC has introduced a wind power turbine for urban rooftops. The first Aerotecture wind turbine sits a top of a commercial structure in the City of Poughkeepsie and can be seen but not heard at 322 Mill Street. The beauty of the urban wind turbine is the size and the punch that it delivers in terms of kilowatts per hour for wind power generation. "The concept is that these wind turbines are small enough to be brought up in a elevator and be assembled on a roof without the need for a building permit," said Bill Jacoby, AeroCity LLC's President. The basic Aerotecture wind turbine has a rated capacity of 1.5 kilowatts per hour. What makes this product unique is that multiple units can be linked together providing even more power. Jacoby also added that while the unit atop its first building is vertical, it can also be fitted horizontally on tall buildings in cities like New York and Chicago or on bridges.

AeroCity, LLC is a participant in the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation's [HVCFI] Cleantech Acceleration Program [CAP]. HVCFI, a Lake Katrine based High Tech Incubator with a satellite office in Sullivan County, produced the event for AeroCity, LLC.

On hand to help unveal the wind turbine was Congressman John Hall and Assemblyman Joel Miller who both represent the City of Poughkeepsie. Assemblyman Kevin Cahill who represents most of Ulster County and who Chairs the Assembly Energy Committee spoke about green/clean energy highlighting the AeroCity accomplishments. An accomplished business owner and candidate for Ulster County Executive Len Bernardo was in attendence.

Les Neumann, HVFCI's Executive Director who first described the CAP program and the Incubator introduced Bill Jacoby. Later in the program Sarah Osgood, from NYSERDA, along with Assemblyman Cahill announced that AeroCity had been awarded a $1 million grant which will help fund further development and manufacturing of the product to be built in Ulster County. Demonstration model orders will be fulfilled by December 15th 2008.

For further information about AeroCity, LLC check out their web site at: http://www.aerocityinc.com or by calling Jacoby at: 518-697-0633.

Officials bring home the bacon

If you follow the state capital scene, you know that this time of year is typically "bring home the bacon" time. Our State Assemblymen and Senators announce what member items they were able to secure shortly after the budget deal is announced. Member item funding are grants issued to organizations and municipalities with dollar amounts as low as $5,000 to as high as $300,000 or more. A few years ago when the budget ran late, well into the summer, then Governor George Pataki announced that there would be no member items in the agreed upon budget. Newspapers covering the larger populous like Buffalo, Albany, and Long Island often publish, in detail, what their elected officials where able to muster. The City of Albany even publishes how CBG [community block grant] federal money is spent.

Yet in the Hudson Valley, our elected officials seem to parse out the bacon slowly. Opting rather for targeted press releases later in the year. Some member items never get published. The organization just gets the money, quietly because it may ruffle the feathers of others. I think that FULL disclosure of member items is a must within 60 days of budget passage.

As of today, not one of our Hudson Valley delegation has published on their web site any member item money. Is it truly possible that the scenic hudson valley was left out of the member item pie this year?