Railex named corporation of the year by Sch'dy chamber The Business Review (Albany)
Railex LLC, a company that makes cross-country deliveries of fresh produce by train, will receive top corporate honors at the Chamber of Schenectady County's annual business awards dinner in October.
Railex, which has about 150 employees at its Rotterdam hub, will be honored as corporation of the year at an Oct. 21 dinner at Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia. Railex is headquartered in Long Island.
"Schenectady has much to celebrate these days, and our vibrant business community is a big part of the renaissance," said Angelo Mazzone, who chairs the chamber's board of directors. Mazzone founded, owns and operates Glen Sanders Mansion.
The other awards and their winners include:
Entrepreneur of the year: Ray Bleser, owner, Northeastern Fine Jewelry Inc. The award recognizes the leader of a company with less than 100 employees; Executive of the year: Ray Gillen, chairman of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority. The award is "reserved for a natural-born leader and charismatic go-getter;" Tech Valley Innovation award: TransTech Systems Inc., a company that creates systems that test asphalt and soil at construction sites; Rising Star award: LT's Grill, in Niskayuna. The award goes to a business less than two years old that "exhibits potential for long-term success;" Say Schenectady tourism award: Schahet Hotels, which owns the Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn in Schenectady. Enterprise of the year: The Mossey Group, a marketing communications firm in Schenectady. The chamber will also honor Gabriel Basil, the retiring president of Schenectady County Community College, at its October dinner.
Why wouldn't this be celebrated in the same town that the company does business? How about over at Mallozzis? Don't want to bring people to Rotterdam to actually maybe do some side business? Congrats, Railex.
Mr. Mazzone (Glen Sanders) is the chair of the Chamber of commerce. Also, if you notice, Railex was the only Rotterdam business being honored. The rest were not.
OK, I see, but if the BIGGEST reward was going to someone in Rotterdam, then I still lean my way. It's not as though Jumpin' Jacks was getting the reward, so it should be in the same area (not that I think Jumpin' Jacks is bad, they're GREAT (as Tony the tiger says!)).
Railex invests $800G in new track at Rotterdam facility Friday, August 22, 2008 By Justin Mason (Contact) Gazette Reporter
ROTTERDAM — Railex has nearly completed work on a new track near its 250,000-square-foot facility in the Rotterdam Corporate Park. The new set of rails is the fourth at the facility and represents a nearly $800,000 investment by the fledgling company, which first opened for business in October 2006. Paul Esposito, vice president of sales and logistics for Railex, said the tracks will help accommodate a third train the company expects to add in late September. But instead of bringing produce from the company’s warehouse in Wallula, Wash., the new train will be hauling agricultural goods from California’s sun belt. By next month, Esposito said Railex will open a 200,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Delano Calif., which will begin shipping a variety of sensitive, West Coast-grown produce to the East Coast. These items include everything from lettuce to cherries and grapes, “pretty much whatever the consumer demands,” he said. Esposito said the climate-controlled trains have already been hauling loads more sensitive than the onions, citrus and potatoes they initially carried. But instead of hauling it from the source in California, trucks have shipped the produce and products north to the company’s facility in Washington, which packages the trains for Rotterdam. The third train will operate much like the others, with the company’s usual guarantee that product will move from west to east in less than five days. The company expects to haul the equivalent of 400 truckloads of product from its California facility each week. Esposito said products aboard the Railex trains won’t be limited to produce. The company has already shipped more than 1 million bottles of wine from the Columbia Gorge region on the border of Oregon and Washington. “They used to have the long haul by truck,” he said, “but they saw the benefit of utilizing the Railex system.”
ROTTERDAM Railex line to haul Calif. produce West Coast facility is slated to open in fall BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Railex has added a new set of tracks at the Rotterdam Corporate Park in anticipation of the fall opening of its new facility in California. The company has nearly completed work on the tracks near its 250,000-square-foot Rotterdam produce distribution operation. The new set of rails is the fourth at the facility and represents a nearly $800,000 investment by the company, which opened for business in October 2006. Paul Esposito, the vice president of sales and logistics for Railex, said the tracks will help accommodate a second train the company expects to add sometime in late September. But instead of bringing produce from the company’s warehouse in Wallula, Wash., the new train will be hauling agricultural goods from California. By next month, Esposito said Railex will open a 200,000-squarefoot cold storage facility in Delano, Calif., which is to start shipping West Coast produce east. These items will include lettuce, broccoli and grapes, “pretty much whatever the consumer demands,” he said. Esposito said the climate-controlled trains have already been hauling loads more fragile than the onions, citrus fruits and potatoes they initially carried. Trucks now ship the produce and products north to the company’s facility in Washington, which packages the trains for Rotterdam, where they are sent on for regional distribution. The new train will operate much like the others, with the company’s usual guarantee that products will move from west to east in less than five days. The company expects to haul the equivalent of 400 truckloads from its California facility each week, a figure that could increase if a third train is added next year as anticipated. Esposito said products aboard the Railex trains won’t be limited to produce. The company has already shipped more than 1 million bottles of wine from the Columbia River basin along the Oregon and Washington border. “They used to have the long haul by truck,” he said. “But they saw the benefit of utilizing the Railex system.” With each 55-car train, the company estimates, it hauls an estimated 220 truckloads of produce cross-country each week, saving roughly 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel per train and lowering emissions by 85,000 metric tons per year. Each boxcar is climate-controlled and outfitted with a GPS transponder, which allows both Railex and its customers to track shipments. Demand for the service is enough that even the size of the Railex trains has risen. Esposito said trains during the growing season in Washington have expanded to upwards of 70 cars. Railex is also planning to establish a southeastern hub somewhere in southern Georgia or Florida. Eventually, the company plans to establish another terminus in the east-central United States, somewhere between Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis., Mo. Last week, the company was designated the Corporation of the Year, an honor presented by the Chamber of Schenectady County to large businesses distinguished by growth. Ray Gillen, executive director of the Metroplex Development Authority, lauded the rapid growth of Railex, which his agency helped bring to the corporate park in 2006. He said the company has demonstrated how efficient transportation can foster rapid economic growth not only in the county but in other areas of the nation. “This investment is another sign of Railex’s success both in Rotterdam and around the nation as more and more customers sign up to use their super-fast and fuel-efficient transportation system,” he said of the company’s expansion.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - 1:29 PM EDT Railex receives first produce delivery from Calif.
The Business Review (Albany)
The first rail delivery of produce from California arrived this morning at Railex in Rotterdam, N.Y., a significant achievement for the growing distribution company.
The 55-car train from Delano, Calif., arrived at 6 a.m. today at Railex’s depot at the Rotterdam Industrial Park, officials said.
The trip took less than five days and saved an estimated 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel that would have been needed to transport the same produce by tractor trailers.
After arriving in Rotterdam the produce is distributed to supermarket chains and other food companies.
Railex opened the distribution warehouse in 2006, investing more than $20 million to build the 250,000 square foot facility. The company also operates a facility in Wallula, Wash.
Railex recently invested more than $800,000 to expand rail access in anticipation of the arrival of trains from California.
Suit says noose left in locker Ex-Railex worker claims racial discrimination complaint led to his firing
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Saturday, November 15, 2008
ROTTERDAM — A black warehouse worker claims he was fired from Railex after complaining about discrimination, and that on his last day he found racially offensive comments scrawled on his locker and a noose hanging inside it.
In his civil action filed in federal court, Noel Sealy said he joined Railex in November 2006 as a pallet jack driver at the Rotterdam Industrial Park site. The suit said he was repeatedly subjected to racial discrimination that included derogatory racial slurs by managers and co-workers, creating a hostile work environment.
After he went to supervisors, they retaliated by firing him, according to the court document. The suit said Sealy didn't believe the company ever investigated what happened at his locker.
In response to the legal action, filed during the summer, Railex in September denied all the allegations outlined in the suit and requested the complaint be dismissed.
The civil action seeks unspecified damages and legal fees. Sealy's attorney, Adam Virant of New York City, declined comment Friday.
Paul Esposito, Railex's spokesman in Rotterdam, said Friday afternoon he was unaware of the suit and would look into it, but failed to immediately return a call seeking comment. David E. Block, an attorney representing Railex, was on vacation Friday and could not be reached for comment.
The matter is scheduled for an initial conference Monday morning before U. S. Magistrate Judge David E. Peebles in Syracuse. The legal action was filed in Northern District of New York in July.
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