High oil prices are pushing refinery upgrades and expansion, which is good news to Batavia-based Graham Corp. Its revenue and profits are soaring, reports the Buffalo News.

Graham is coming off a fiscal year where profits and sales were the highest ever by a wide margin. The company’s stock, which traded for just over $10 in January 2007, now stands at $89.

And Graham’s order backlog and new order bookings are running at a record pace, prompting Lines to predict that the company’s growth spurt is far from over, with sales expected to rise by another 15 percent to 20 percent during the fiscal year that began in March. That would push revenues to around $100 million for the first time ever.

The article indicates that Graham is continuing to expand its work force, at home and aboard.

From the Daily News (Wednesday):

• Graham Corporation's Chief Finanicial Officer J. Ronald Hansen will reture August 1. Hansen has been with the company since 1993. The Batavia-based manufacturer of "vacuum-and-heat exchangers" has seen tremendous financial growth over the past few years.
• For commentary on the article about Youth Football and the school board, see our earlier post.
• Construction of the shopping plaza off Veterans Memorial Drive in the town of Batavia resumed after a delay to get the plans for the plaza in accord with state environmental regulations. No mention in the article of the length of the delay.
• The city's Neighborhood Improvement Committee will meet tonight at 6:30pm in the Council Board Room at City Hall.
• Virginia Kropf's "Around the Towns" column in today's paper addresses her membership in the "crazy group of older women called 'Red Hatters.'" It's a delight. I look forward to Kropf's columns.
• Well, I'm sure at least Sen. Chuck Schumer would be pleased with the front page of today's Daily News. In a huge photo that dominates the top half of the paper, the senator almost seems lifesize, a giant among the puny windmills in the distance behind him — yikes! Apparently, he was in Wetherfield looking for support for a windmill bill he's excited about.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Batavia-based Graham Corp. (AMEX: GHM) has made Business Week's list of fastest growing small companies.

From the article:

This year's Hot Growth ranking also features a whole lot of heavy metal. Dotting the list are small manufacturers with low-cost structures and the ability to make specialized products that can't easily be copied by foreign rivals. Among the success stories: Graham (GHM), a Batavia (N.Y.) maker of heat-transfer equipment, and Haynes International (HAYN), a Kokomo (Ind.) supplier of specialty alloys used by jetmakers and gas drillers.

This morning, the stock opens at $63.50 per share.  It's 52-week high is $71.58 and 52-week low is $13.45

Graham's 2007 revenue was $65 million, with an EBIDTA margin of 11 pecent. Graham employs 265 people.

The company, which claims no long-term debt and $36 million in available cash, is announcing this week that for fiscal 2008 revenue is $86.4 million.

According to it's corporate history page, Graham was founded in 1936 and moved to Batavia in 1942.  The company went public in 1968.

Jerald D. Bidlack, 71, is chairman of the board, and James R. Lines, 46, is president and CEO.

Business Week's description of the company:

Graham Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of vacuum and heat transfer equipment used in the chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refining, and power generating industries worldwide. Its products include steam jet ejector vacuum systems; surface condensers for steam turbines; vacuum pumps and compressors; various types of heat exchangers, including helical coil heat exchangers marketed under the Heliflow name; and plate and frame exchangers. These products are available in various metal and non-metallic corrosion resistant materials. Graham Corporation’s products are used in a range of industrial process applications, including petroleum refineries, chemical plants, pharmaceutical plants, plastics plants, fertilizer plants, liquefied natural gas production facilities, soap manufacturing plants, air conditioning systems, food processing plants, and other process industries, as well as power generation facilities, such as fossil fuel, nuclear, cogeneration, and geothermal power plants.