SIDNEY - In a walk-through that was more like a feasibility whisper, a group of local, state and federal potential collaborators and partners toured the former ACCO campus on River Road Friday, Oct. 24, to weigh a homegrown idea with regional reach: turning a portion of the sprawling industrial site into an aviation-training hub.
“It was pretty good,” said Kevin Greene, Sidney resident and town council member who helped convene the session along with collaborator Darius Palmer. “This was just like a very preliminary kind of talk. We came up with a couple next steps, and we’re just going to pursue it from there.”
Greene was plain about the purpose. “This is information gathering,” he said, “even before a phase one kind of process - that is more about getting potential collaborators together to see if the idea is feasible.”
The plan
What Greene and collaborators have sketched out is ambitious: a Southern Tier Aviation Initiative that would, in effect, turn Sidney and its neighbors into a training ground and test bed for the business of flight - a kind of “aviation capital of the Northeast.” The concept links classrooms to hangars and factories, potentially pairing SUNY’s technical strengths with Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology’s aviation pedigree to prepare students for maintenance, aerospace engineering, air-traffic control and unmanned systems. The aim is both practical and local: give young people a path to high-paying technical jobs without leaving the region, and give employers a reason to plant roots here.
Sidney, the backers argue, is unusually well suited to the task. The town’s industrial DNA runs through Scintilla Magneto — today’s Amphenol Aerospace — and its logistics are enviable: a recently repaved municipal airport, access to I-88 and rail, and large, adaptable industrial floors that can be converted to labs, classrooms and shop space. Operating costs are lower than downstate, the pitch goes, and the workforce is within reach of retraining.
The market case is straightforward. Airlines, manufacturers and the federal government are straining to fill skilled roles: the nation has roughly 10,800 active air-traffic controllers when it needs about 14,600; aviation maintenance faces a shortage now that industry groups expect to deepen through the decade; and the commercial drone sector is poised to expand sharply. A pipeline in the Southern Tier, supporters say, could help close those gaps while seeding a local ecosystem of aircraft maintenance and overhaul shops, avionics makers, drone firms and aerospace suppliers.
Sustainability is built into the blueprint. Organizers talk about research tracks in electric propulsion, hydrogen fuels and lower-emission maintenance practices - a nod to New York’s climate goals and a way to make the program relevant to the industry’s next chapter as well as its present.
If it works, the economic spillovers could be substantial: hundreds of direct jobs growing to a few thousand across suppliers and service businesses over a decade; new tax base for towns like Sidney, Bainbridge and Unadilla; and the kind of secondary growth - housing, restaurants, retail - that follows steady payrolls. There is also a civic bet tucked inside the plan: that a regional school with clear, technical career ladders will help keep more young people in the county.
The timeline is measured. The first two years would be spent on planning, site work and accreditation; year three would launch instruction while courting industry tenants; years four and five would formalize partnerships and expand programs; after that, if the pieces fall into place, the backers envision a durable hub for aviation education and enterprise in the Southern Tier. Funding would be stitched together from state and federal grants, private partners, tuition and research support - a public-private patchwork that mirrors the project’s larger premise: education, industry and community moving in tandem.
What “aviation school” means here
The concept on the table is not a pilot academy. “Mainly it was focused on aircraft maintenance, engineering and also air traffic control,” Greene said. “It’s not like a pilot school - although maybe that could be integrated at some point. Those are the areas that are specifically lacking in the industry.”
The former facility’s sheer volume is part of the pitch. The complex includes two large buildings - one two-story, one three-story - that Greene described as “basically turnkey for classroom and office space,” plus a cafeteria. Proximity to Sidney Municipal Airport, he added, could support hands-on work in hangars and help students meet certain flight-distance requirements tied to credentialing.
Brian diLorenzo, a commercial pilot and manager of pilot recruiting for Piedmont Airlines, sees the proposed aviation school and revitalization of the Sidney Airport as an opportunity to spark long-term economic vitality for both Sidney and Delaware County. As an active member of the Sidney Airport Club, a nonprofit of “local pilots, people who hang out at the airport,” diLorenzo said the group’s goal is simple: “Our goal is to support the Sidney Airport. We do fundraisers and raise money to help support different projects at the airport, like beautification or any of those things that have to be done around the airport.”
From his vantage point in both local and commercial aviation, diLorenzo believes the project could be transformative. “Any growth for the airport - anybody who’s interested in aviation can come together in this area - I think it would be amazing for the airport,” he said. “General aviation at some of the smaller airports around the country struggle. So if you can find something to help support the local airport, that’s always a good thing.” Beyond aviation itself, he emphasized the need to connect residents with the facility’s public value. “Local people generally don’t understand what the airport does,” he said. “They think it’s just a bunch of people who own the airplanes and it’s there just for them. They don’t understand what it can do for commerce. It’s a public-use airport - it belongs to the public. Anything that breaks down that barrier is a good thing.”
Together with the proposed aviation program, diLorenzo said, renewed investment and community engagement could “bring more people flying out of the airport” and position Sidney as a regional hub for aviation education, business, and opportunity.
SUNY interest - and caution
Representatives from local, state and federal offices and higher-education institutions attended the walk-through. One early homework item falls to SUNY, he noted: “The SUNY system has its own kind of ecosystem,” he said with, meaning its guardrails on duplicating programs and poaching enrollment. Existing aviation offerings at Mohawk Valley and Farmingdale make coordination essential. “It doesn’t kill the project [if SUNY is not involved],” Greene said, “it could be something where it would be a collaborative type of thing.”
Representing SUNY Delhi at the walk-through was Drs, Mary Bonderhoff and David Brower.
Why Sidney, why now
Greene said the idea surfaced when the ACCO property “was up for grabs,” and Palmer “approached me about his idea to start an aviation college.” Beyond the buildings, the location offers runway-adjacent advantages: highway and rail access, a recently repaved airport, and an industrial footprint that can host big technical programs without carving into greenfields. A project memo circulated by Palmer frames a broader “Southern Tier Aviation Initiative,” linking workforce training in aircraft maintenance, avionics, air traffic control and unmanned systems with efforts to attract MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul - facilities that perform all services necessary to keep aircraft safe and airworthy) shops, aerospace suppliers and green-aviation R&D (research and development) to the region.
Greene cast the stakes in hometown terms. The goal, he said, is to “reverse the negative inertia” familiar to small upstate communities - “people are leaving, businesses are leaving, the population’s getting older.” A specialized school, he contends, is a “lower-impact” economic engine that could spread benefits to Bainbridge, Afton, Unadilla, Masonville and beyond.
From tour to timetable
The walk-through’s outcome was not a verdict but a path. “I don’t think any of them would have showed up if they weren’t interested,” Greene said. “Everybody liked the idea. We have some steps to take - just the normal kinds of things,” including engaging the county IDA (Industrial Development Agency) and Regional Economic Development Council.
One practical marker: “In spring of 2026, state monies will be available for feasibility studies,” Greene said. That would put a formal market and site analysis within reach. “We’re in the exploratory phase,” he added. “Hopefully by summertime we’ll have a clearer path - whether it’s doable or not, and what it would take to do it.”
Greene also stressed the effort’s regional character. “This isn’t really a town or village project,” he said. “This is a regional development project.” And while a SUNY partnership could anchor the academic side, he noted the route isn’t singular. Assembly Representative Joe Angelino, who was among the attendees of the walk-through, suggested, “You might be able to start out with just having a private school to get the ball rolling,” while larger public-sector collaborations take shape.
