When it comes to tax incentive packages, Genesee County has a few advantages over Monroe County, because of programs available targeted specifically for rural counties, according to Chris Suozzi, VP of business development for the Genesee County Economic Development Center.
So when Brothers International announced it was abandoning Batavia, where it was founded in 2001, for Rochester, Souzzi concluded it wasn't purely a business decision.
"In my mind it was more of a personal decision on where they wanted to locate the company," Souzzi said.
We have a call into Travis Betters at Brothers International to get his take on the relocation decision.
Souzzi said he last met with Brothers six months ago and presented a side-by-side comparison of the Genesee County package with the Monroe County package. He said it "opened their eyes" about what Genesee County had to offer and was under the impression they would "stay put in Batavia."
He didn't learn of the decision by Brothers to move until Monroe County put out a press release about the location change.
While the current Brothers location is in an empire zone, to date the company has received no tax assistance through GCEDC, Souzzi said.
Remember, Brothers also also
Remember, Brothers also also abandoned New York State when they made the decision to buy their apples from China and not explore New York State apple growers. I say take your chinese apples and go to Monroe County and every resident of Genesee County boycott Brothers snacks