Amphenol Breaks Ground on New Spot in Sidney

Ground has been broken on a new parcel of land for Sidney's Amphenol manufacturing plant.

The factory, which has been devastated by two flood in five years, will be located just west of the K-Mart Plaza near the Una-Lam factory. This puts it just south of the Sidney Airport, near the Sidney/Bainbridge line.

Instead of leaving the state, the company decided to stay in Sidney after New York State offered Amphenol a $32 million package so it could construct a levee around the existing facility, acquire the new property on higher ground and start construction along with wetland and stream restoration, engineering and electrical upgrades.

Local, State and Federal officials joined members of Amphenol Aerospace for the groundbreaking Monday.

The factory has been in Sidney just short of a century. During World War II it was the main employer in the area, producing magnetos for the Air Force planes. Several trains a day pulled into the Sidney train depot (now gone) depositing workers from as far away as Oneonta, Norwich and Walton. It has carried the names of Scintilla, Allied, Bendix and now Amphenol.

Congratulations to all involved in keeping the legacy company located right where it belongs -- Sidney, N.Y.

Eric Malanoski contributed to this report.