Army to take over management task from nonprofit
Partnership helped save arsenal from closure in 2005
After being told by the U.S. Army in December that its contract would not be renewed, the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership is now officially winding down its operations at the Watervliet Arsenal.
Peter Gannon, the longtime president of the Arsenal Partnership, says that by next month, the Army will take over property management services that the partnership had provided to private sector companies at the Watervliet Arsenal dating back to the nonprofit’s founding 20 years ago.
“The government has decided that they no longer require the site management services the Arsenal Partnership provided and are moving them back internally,” Gannon said Monday. “We have pledged, and I am leading, a smooth transition for the tenants to this new system starting when our contract expires (June 19).”
Gannon has already taken a new job as CEO of the United Way for the Greater Capital Region as he helps the Arsenal Partnership with the transition.
Joseph Turcotte, the arsenal’s deputy commander, confirmed Monday that the Army will take over the private sector space at the arsenal that had been overseen by the partnership.
He said that Gannon notified the Army last month that the partnership would step aside in favor of the Army taking over property management as the Army had originally requested as it seeks to expand and have more control over space at the facility. Turcotte said that current Arsenal Partnership tenants will be allowed to remain.
“We thank the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership for its many years of service to the Army by helping the arsenal maximize the value of its underutilized space,” Turcotte said in a statement. “But the challenges facing our military today are different than when the partnership was brought on board nearly 16 years ago. Due to readiness challenges unforeseen just 18 months ago, the Army now requires a new, dramatic direction for the arsenal, which must double its manufacturing capacity in the next four years to meet rising soldier readiness requirements.”
The partnership was created in the late 1990s as a way to keep the Watervliet Arsenal, the Army’s only cannon manufacturing facility, relevant in the 1990s during a period of massive downsizing. The arsenal survived the 2005 Base Realignment And Closure initiative in part due to the economic development role the Arsenal Partnership had played bringing in private sector tenants.
Former Democratic Congressman Mike Mcnulty of Green Island played a leading role in the nonprofit’s formation.
Over the years, the partnership has attracted 15 tenants with 150 employees and grown its annual budget to $2.8 million. The nonprofit had six employees, including Gannon.
However, the Arsenal Partnership’s role in the local tech economy and at the arsenal itself has been in flux. The Army has announced a series of new weapons contracts and a $40 million expansion at the arsenal that will add 200 workers and require additional space.
The Army originally told the partnership in November that it would no longer require its services. But after pressure from New York’s congressional delegation, the Army decided to give the partnership a sixmonth extension so the issue could be studied more closely.
Gannon said that the partnership’s Veterans Business Outreach Center that was started under his watch will survive after having its contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration extended another five years.
“Some of the existing partnership staff will transition into supporting that effort full time and it looks like we have an agreement to keep that based at the arsenal,” Gannon said.
Gannon says he will remain involved as a volunteer with the outreach center, which helps veterans start and grow their own businesses.
“I’m proud of what we accomplished,” Gannon said. “I’m excited for my next chapter, and I’m thrilled we can continue the work we started four years ago supporting our veterans.”