New Construction Is Underway MARCH 28, 2025 • OLEAN TIMES HERALD
BUFFALO BILLS STADIUM STEEL WORK JUST THE START FOR OLEAN’S CIMOLAI-HY
By BOB CLARK OLEAN — With sparks flying, steel is moving through North Olean as Cimolai-HY shipped off the last of its first major project on Jan. 15. That project — part of the roof supports for the new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park — caps off years of work to get the facility converted from a compressor manufacturer to a structural steel fabricator, said general manager Carolyn Carbonneau. The company employs around 95, with around 50 directly involved in manufacturing on the floor of the facilities previously used by Clark Brothers, Dresser-Rand and Siemens Energy. “We’re very proud. Everyone was proud to work on this,” Carbonneau said as employees
Bob Clark/Olean Times Herald Workers at Cimolai-HY gather Wednesday to say goodbye to the last shipment of steel fabricated in Olean for the new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park.
milled around the loaded truck. To date, she said, 400 tons of steel fabricated into 86 parts for the roof structure have been shipped. “If people look up there, they will see these. It’s at the very top.”
Not all of the steel for the roof supports came from Olean, Carbonneau said, with many other manufacturers working on the job due to the sheer scale of the stadium. “I heard there were 11 shops working on these,” she said.
WITH THE STADIUM project pieces rolling out the door, Cimolai-HY officials said the project is just the beginning. “We’re starting a lot of projects right now,” Carbonneau said, including several bridge projects in the Bronx.
In mid-February, the company will ship off the parts for a new bridge spanning the Genesee River — the first bridge project to be completed by Cimolai-HY’s Olean workers. Officials noted that the winter is a slow time for
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bridge manufacturing. “In March we’re going to be ramping up,” she said, and more workers will be needed. “On the shop floor we’re at 50 people — we need to be 120 people. That’s with the current backlog — (and) we’re still bidding on other projects.” The firm will look to hire more workers in February. “Welders, fitters, people with robotics to run the machines and programmers. We’re going to have to support all the people on the shop floor,” she said. Paying fabrication work began this last summer, she noted, including the startup work on the Bills project and several bridge projects in New York City. More steel rolled out for the Hudson Yards con ��������� continued on page A-3