Manufacturer moved to old Kmart building in Fulton last summer — 92,000 square foot facility is complete and fully operational
By Stefan Yablonski
N.E.T. & Die in 2025 moved to a large facility in the former Kmart in Fulton. Its expansion into the 92,000 square foot facility is complete and fully operational, equipped with a crane capacity of up to 10 tons to support large-scale projects. The expansion was supported by the Oswego County Industrial Development Agency.
N.E.T. is a third-generation, family-owned and -operated CNC machine shop with a long history on the west side of Fulton. The company handles large manufacturing, such as industrial pumps. It provides custom, prototype and low-volume production for a variety of industries.
“We were in a pretty old industrial building. It was dingy, dark and dirty. We were running out of room to expand. This is something that has been on NET’s radar for some time now,” said Michelle Shatrau, president and CEO of N.E.T. & Die. “It was one of my goals when I took over seven years ago now. The flow in this building will be much better. We’re able to stage our material better in here, so that’s a bonus.”
The old building served its purpose back in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, she said.
“But as we’ve grown and were looking at new technologies, it’s kind of imperative that we got into a building that was conducive for that,” she added. “We added many new machines. One is a large milling machine. One of the things that we specialize in is doing large turning. So, it’s kind of what we are known for.”
The company was started in 1966 by Harry Shatrau. In 1981, his children, Richard, Helena and Bob continued the operation. In 2019, Richard’s daughter — Michelle — assumed leadership.
“My dad owned a machine shop, so I’ve always been in manufacturing. I kind of grew up in manufacturing,” she explained. “I have always been in manufacturing. I have moved around a lot during my career. I moved all over the country for my career and then I came back to Central New York to take over the family business.
“My grandfather started the business in a garage out on the Chase Road in Fulton. Then he moved into a building and bought the building shortly thereafter.”
Ownership transferred to her father in the late ‘70s.
Fulton roots
“We want to continue to grow in Fulton. We did look at buildings in other areas — the industrial park, we looked at properties in Oswego — but my goal was to stay in the city of Fulton. I was excited when we made the connection on the Kmart building.”
N.E.T & Die has 24 employees right now.
“We always want to add skilled machinists,” she said. “We could use another and also a programmer. A CNC programmer would be a nice addition to the company as well.
“I have a female operations manager. She is a jack of all trades. And a quality specialist. So, we have three females in the company now. It’s tough because unless you see somebody that looks like you doing the job, you don’t envision yourself doing it, right?”
Women who are in these types of jobs need to get out and make themselves known to young women to let them know that there are fields that they can go into that are technical and hands-on. “It’s important for us to be out there talking about it,” she added.
She doesn’t think Micron will be a direct customer.
“There will probably be some tier two or tier three work that kind of flows down from them being here; some equipment support services that we could do components for,” she said.
Some small companies are a little concerned about what is going to happen to their labor force, according to Shatrau.
“We have a hard enough time with our workforce as it is. Will [Micron] be a pull on our workforce? Possibly, but I’m hoping not,” she said.
Shatrau’s daughter was just accepted at Cornell University. She’s planning a career in the mechanical engineering field.
“She does work for us, part-time. But she doesn’t necessarily have an interest in being a direct leader,” she said. “She might have some sort of involvement later; but right now, there is no direct path for family members to be part of the ownership. We are looking at some other options. I am always looking five or 10 years out.”
“I’d like to be retired in 10 or 15 years (laughs). I love what I’m doing, but I also would like to slow down and travel more. Maybe there is a 50% retirement plan where I can travel half the time and work half the time. That is my ideal workload and retirement,” she said.
Her father is 84 years old — and still comes to work every day.
“And he’s not like sitting around playing games. He is actively running a machine, he’s helping troubleshoot, he’s being an engineer — he’s working!” she said. “He only works half a day. He comes in at 8 and leaves at noon, goes home and has lunch with mom.
“He wants to keep his brain going, keep his body active. I totally get it. I love having him here. We will keep him here as long as possible, as long as he wants to be here. He has so much knowledge. I’m grateful to have him.”
