Massena hopeful as Alcoa deadline hits two year mark
The short-term deal to save Alcoa’s operations in Massena is nearing its halfway point. At the end of 2015, New York State gave the aluminum...
Mar 06, 2017 — The short-term deal to save Alcoa’s operations in Massena is nearing its halfway point. At the end of 2015, New York State gave the aluminum giant $73 million to stay in town.
That move saved more than 600 jobs. But it raised eyebrows among people who saw it as a giveaway of taxpayer money.
The contract with Alcoa expires in two years now.
As for whether talks are underway for a long-term plan for the plant beyond the March 2019 expiratin of the current contract, an Alcoa spokesman said there really is no update, that the company is in touch with state and local officials in the North Country on a regular basis. Local lawmakers are tight-lipped, declining to comment on the status of negotiations.
The New York Power Authority, which is a key player in the deal because it offers Alcoa some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country, said in a statement, "NYPA does not comment on any discussions it may have with customers. The agreement with Alcoa is a long-term commitment from the State. NYPA is pleased that Alcoa has met the terms of the agreement and looks forward to continuing to work with Alcoa to retain jobs and contribute to bolstering the economy in the North Country."
Global factors may decide the future of a local mainstay
The 3.5-year contract was reached after Alcoa stunned the region when it announced its board had decided not to invest in a huge modernization project that had been in the works for years. So the trend line is not making long-term investments in Massena. But part of the $73 million deal includes the state investing in rehabilitating parts of the plant.
But state and local officials are hopeful the new Trump Administration signals good news. President Trump has promised to press corporations to return good-paying jobs to their plants in America, renegotiating trade deals, and cutting the corporate tax rate.
Aluminum prices have been rising recently as well, buoying expectations. But in a global aluminum market, there are many moving parts that could determine Alcoa's ultimate decision. Asked about Alcoa last month at an appearance in Massena, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said keeping those jobs in Massena remains a priority. "We’ve had a tough time with aluminum because the Chinese market is always dumping aluminum, making prices plummet," she said. "So the fact that we have high prices today is perhaps what we need to get a good agreement going forward, so our workers can stay and produce the aluminum we desperately need in this country."
It will be interesting to see whether Democrats like Gillibrand, as well as U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, who is now Senate minority leader, can get Massena on the Republican President’s radar.
"Things are turning around" in Massena
Many observers, including some in the North Country saw Alcoa's deal as a huge corporate giveaway for a limited number of jobs with a cloudy future. In Massena, the deal was largely seen as a wake-up call and a reprieve for Massena to start rebuilding its economy around other sectors than its historic manufacturing base.
Some projects are taking baby steps on that front, including revitalizing Massena’s waterfront, new ownership at the St. Lawrence Centre mall, and a storefront in the mall to sell locally produced goods, spearheaded by the grass-roots group, Re-Imagining Our Tomorrow (RIOT).But it’s not easy to replace hundreds of good paying jobs in just three years, especially since Massena has already lost hundreds of other jobs in the last decade. Those employment losses have left deep scars in the community. The real estate market is flooded with houses for sale. Crime and drugs have been a big problem in Massena.
Village mayor Timmy Currier said Massena "bottomed out" over the last couple of years, but things are turning around. "We’re now starting to see some progress. A little development in the downtown core. The issues that we were dealing with for a few years have subsided now," said Currier. "We have a long way to go. This community is an Alcoa community. We’re hopeful it will continue to be for generations to come."
So while Massena is trying to re-imagine its future, local leaders make clear they still consider Alcoa, and its high-paying manufacturing jobs, the backbone.


