Three state Assemblymen are upset that the beer fermentation tanks being transported down the Erie Canal to the Genesee Brewing Company in Rochester were made in China with nearly $10 million in State Economic Development funding.

Anthony Brindisi, Marc Butler and Brian Miller say upstate companies like Feldmeier Manufacturing in Little Falls could have done the work.

“The fermentation tanks going down the Erie Canal are literally on a slow boat from China.  It disgusts me to know that state economic development dollars were used to support a project where goods were manufactured in China, when we have companies like Feldmeier Equipment that produce products like this right in the Mohawk Valley. New York should put its money where its mouth is and support our state workers and state companies first, before they ship taxpayer’s money right out the door to China,” Brindisi said.

The Assemblymen have written to Governor Cuomo and Empire State Development Commissioner Howard Zemsky to express their disappointment.

Brindisi says the Buy New York Act he's sponsoring, which is supported by Miller and Butler, would require state agencies to give preference to buying goods and services produced in New York State when handing out tax dollars, as well as requiring the use of New York State iron, steel, and manufactured products for many government contracts.

Empire State Development spokesman Jason Conwall issued the following statement regarding the issue:

"Governor Cuomo and Empire State Development support New York State businesses, period.  "In fact, ESD provided $750,000 to Feldmeier Equipment in 2013 in order to secure their expansion to Herkimer County, ensuring the new operations and 80 new jobs came to Little Falls instead of going out-of-state, which was under strong consideration by the company.

“The bottom line is that while Feldmeier bid on a larger equipment package, the company declined (twice) to bid on the tanks in question and not one penny of State funds were spent on the equipment purchased by NAB, from China or elsewhere. If local elected officials had contacted ESD with their concerns before issuing a press release, they would have known these indisputable facts instead of playing politics with inaccurate information."

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