Business

For the 38th time, the Batavia Jaycees are hosting its annual Home Show. This year, it is once again at Batavia Downs. 

The show is open Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A couple dozen vendors are on hand to help owners explore options for home improvement.

If we're going to keep businesses in New York, they need ways to save money, and that's the chief reason the Genesee County Legislature should get behind creating a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in the county, according to Charles Giunta, port director for U.S. Customs in Rochester.

Giunta (pictured above) was brought to the Ways and Means Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon by staff of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

"I’m a different kind of port director," Giunta said. "I go out four or five times a month and make presentations to companies on foreign trade zones. Why? Because foreign trade zones mean we're going to keep the business here. They're not going to go overseas. If I can save these companies money, then it’s a no-brainer."

A foreign trade zone allows a business to import products and materials duty-free that will be used to manufacture items. It's as if the FTZ is outside the United States. There is only a duty if the item is "imported" (sold) into the U.S.

For example -- as used in the meeting -- if you built motorcycles and bought some of the parts overseas, you would pay duty, say $20 each, on the handlebars, headlamp, starter and seat. But the duty on a completed motorcycle is only $10.  So the company saves money on buying all the parts and pays duty on only the finished product when it becomes a consumed item in the United States.

GCEDC is putting together an application for an FTZ and needs the support of the legislature. A resolution will be presented to the Ways and Means Committee at its next meeting. The GCEDC is also gathering data and support material to sway the FTZ board in Washington, D.C., that there is a need and desire for an FTZ in Genesee County.

If a general FTZ is granted to Genesee County, companies that want to take advantage of the FTZ would need to apply for a subzone. A subzone must be fenced off or otherwise segregated from non-FTZ factory operations.

There is a $5,000 annual fee companies must pay.

The fee would be paid, in this case, to GCEDC, and Mark Masse, senior VP of operations, said the fee would be reinvested in GCEDC's parks and programs.

The idea of applying for an FTZ came up when a local manufacturer made a request for an FTZ. The Genesee County-based company has a plant in Georgia and an FTZ locally would save the company more than $15,000 a month.

"So there is an urgency because every month that goes by, we’re missing out and they’re out that money," said Chris Suozzi, vice president of business development for GCEDC.

Roberta Jordans, with the law firm Harris-Beach, said that with the importance President Barack Obama is putting on increasing American exports, the FTZ board in Washington is trying to expedite applications. The normal 18-month process has been shorted, she said.

Legislators pumped Giunta and Jordans with questions.

Edward DeJaneiro wanted to know that if FTZs aren't technically part of the United States, what happens if a crime is committed.

It turns out, if a person steals from within an FTZ, it's a federal crime.

Inventory control is one of the most closely watched aspects of an FTZ by U.S. Customs, Giunta. While small thefts are usually handled internally, and require notification to customs, Giunta said, big thefts will trigger a customs investigation.

After the meeting, Jordans said that companies within a FTZ must still comply with all state and federal environmental regulations, for example, as well as local zoning ordinances.

Mary Pat Hancock wondered if a FTZ would create local companies that stop buying locally grown crops.

Giunta said there just isn't as much money to be saved on importing food to make it financially worthwhile for a food processor to be part of an FTZ. The duty even on sugar has come down substantially, said Giunta, and many food items have almost no duty.

Jay Grasso wanted to know why, with it being such a seemingly great thing, there aren't more counties setting up free trade zones (the program is 76 years old).

Giunta said there simply aren't many officials with U.S. Customs out marketing the program. A lot of companies don't understand it or think it's too difficult of a process.

Masse (pictured below) said it hasn't necessarily been easy so far to convince local manufacturers to apply for subzones. Many times, businesses haven't sent decision makers to attend FTZ presentations, so something may be lost in translation when it gets back to the decision makers.

"Once somebody gets in and becomes successful, then it will become easier to sell to everybody else," Masse said.

Suozzi said the FTZ will help support other GCEDC projects, such at the STAMP project in Alabama.

"This is a tool to retain business here and it's a tool to attract business," Suozzi said. "This is a huge opportunity."

As the snow melts, months worth of trash is being revealed in some of the flower beds on Main Street.

Don Burkel, executive director of the Business Improvement District sent out a timely reminder to downtown business owners to do a little clean up in front of their establishments.

Burkel said that if everyone would pick up trash, debris and cigarette butts in front of their stores or offices, it would have a big impact on the impression customers get when visiting downtown.

About 20 local business owners and managers attended a talk by Kevin Manne at T.F. Brown's this morning on social media, sponsored by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

Manne, new media specialist for Genesee Community College spoke about how digital media is empowering customers, how that power can be harnessed to benefit a business and how to effectively promote a business on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube.

Previously: College hires new media specialist, sees rapid online growth

The day is coming, according to Mark Peterson, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise, when the I-90 corridor from Buffalo to Albany will rival any high-tech corridor in the world.

Peterson made his bold prediction at the Genesee County Economic Development Center's annual luncheon at Genesee Community College.

More than 100 people attended the 90-minute event that featured presentations by GCEDC executives and elected officials -- both predicting a bright future for economic development in Genesee County and complaining about New York's hostile environment to business.

Peterson said high tech will be drawn to Western New York through the cooperative efforts of the industrial development agencies in Genesee, Orleans, Niagara and Monroe counties.

GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde (pictured above) echoed Peterson in his closing remarks.

"We will help bring back manufacturing to Western New York and we will do it with high tech, green tech and advanced manufacturing," Hyde said.

With five shovel-ready projects, Genesee County is poised to employee 3,000 more people, Hyde said.

"That's more than double the existing manufacturing work force in Genesee County," Hyde said.

He added that once the Alabama STAMP project is completed and completely built out, Genesee County will employ 9,300 more people.

"But it's not just about jobs," Hyde said. "It's about building a tax base."

Hyde said that process is already benefiting Genesee County.

"We have 114 active projects," Hyde said. "That's up 65 percent from 2005. Those projects collectively pay out $4.5 million annually into the tax jurisdictions of Genesee County, towns, schools and the city."

A little bit of old Batavia is going to come back to a new bar on Jackson Street, according to co-owner Derek Geib.

Geib and partner Michael Hyland are busy renovating 9 Jackson St.

Longtime residents will remember the building as the one-time Silver Slipper, and later the Candlelight, before becoming Fuel.  The location was most recently the Jackson St. Grill/Belladessa's.

As a restaurant, Silver Slipper's once gorgeous mahogany bar was boarded over and the back bar painted white.

Geib and Hyland have removed all of that clutter and the dark-brown wood of the bar and walls, as well as a large mirror behind the bar, are visible again. The partners have also partially exposed the brick wall of the original structure.

The duo will dub their new establishment "Bourbon & Burger Co."

And the name reflects what Geib, most recently co-owner of Matty's Pizzeria, hopes people will think of when they think of the tavern -- a place to drink and a place to eat.

"It will be a bar and I don't want people to think just 'food,' Geib said. "I want them to get the idea that it's both."

As for the food, though, Geib is aiming high.

"We'll have the best burgers in town," Geib said. "If you ask 10 people where their favorite place to go for a burger, you'll get eight different answers. We want to be the number-one answer."

If the liquor license process goes according to plan, Geib thinks the doors on Bourbon & Burger Co. will open by May 1. The new tavern's application is going before the Batavia City Council for consideration at Monday's meeting.

Business Owners: Interested in this type of ad? Contact Howard Owens at howard@thebatavian.com

One of my longtime goals has been to stop by Glass Roots at 12 Center St., Batavia, some time when Jeremy Almeter is blowing glass. Today, I happened to catch Jeremy in action along with Josh Taggart (bottom photo).

Almeter told me he and Josh can create any kind of glass object a customer might want -- just draw a picture and they'll make it.

Saying solutions to the state's dairy crisis can't wait until the 2012 Farm Bill, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand today unveiled a comprehensive plan she claims will provide farmers with immediate support.

That can't happen soon enough according to those in the industry. New York State lost nearly a quarter of all its dairies during 2002-07, according to information Gillibrand included in her news release, dropping from nearly 7,400 to about 5,700 five years later.

The number of Genesee County dairies dropped from 98 to 68, a 31-percent decline.

“New York is home to the hardest working farm families and the finest dairy products in the world, but outdated regulations, broken pricing structures and a bad economy are hurting our dairy farmers, and farming communities across the state," Gillibrand said. "We need to act now to support New York’s dairy farms.”

The full specter of the problem was gleaned after the senator held six agricultural "listening sessions" statewide in preparation for next's year farm legislation.

"I appreciate the senator taking the the time to have listening sessions for the dairy industry and for trying to help New York dairy farmers," said Dean Norton, an Elba dairy farmer and president of the New York Farm Bureau. "I look forward to working with her in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill."

Gillibrand's plan intends to: make dairy pricing more competitive for New York producers; prevent cuts to the MILC program; help boost exports; improve storage reporting standards; and increase trading price stability.

The current pricing system is obscure and the discouraging result often means dairy farmers pay more to produce their products than they get from selling them.

Farmers say the high costs of feed and fuel make even the existing safety net -- Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) -- inadequate. Further cuts would increase the numbers of farmers taking on massive debt to cover their costs or go out of business.

Gillibrand is urging the federal Department of Agriculture to collect and publish data on alternative measures of dairy pricing, such as competitive-pay pricing, "so that everyone can see if this would be a better way to price milk." The current system of end-product pricing has reportedly contributed to more volatility in milk prices for producers.

Under a competitive-pricing scenario, the price of milk would be determined by a survey of prices paid to farmers for the milk used in cheese production in a competitive market wherein there are counties with at least five different milk buyers.

New York is one of only three states with competitive counties today.

In noncompetitive areas, the existing Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system would take effect, however base prices would still be established by the competitive-pay pricing system.

To both improve America's milk quality and boost exports, the senator wants to lower the most basic measure of milk quality -- known as somatic cell counts -- so milk has "a longer shelf life, better taste and greater cheese yield."

Another area needing reform, according to farmers are the inventory methods for certain types of cheese, which can "significantly influence trading activities on the Chicago Merchantile Exchange."

For example, cold storage facilities are not required to report their inventories of dairy products to the USDA Natural Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and only do so on a voluntary basis. This purportedly creates an environment of volatility and uncertainty for dairy trading.

Senator Gillibrand is introducing legislation that would make the Cold Storage Report to NASS mandatory, and give the USDA authority to audit warehouse inventories to help bring more stability to dairy trading prices.

She is also introducing the "Democracy for Dairy Producers Act," which would require dairy cooperatives that engage in bloc voting to provide their member farmers with written notices and other information when certain kind of votes occur.

The bill also would establish an information clearinghouse to provide information regarding any proposed milk marketing order reforms. The information would have to be published on a Web site and distributed to producers through a fax list, e-mail distribution list, or U.S. mail list, at the discretion of individual producers.

The sturdy red brick building at the corner of Center and Main streets was built by Batavia's Masons in 1908 and has been their home ever since.

That will change this summer.

Members of Batavia Lodge No. 475 of Free and Accepted Masons have made the difficult decision to leave their finely crafted and ornate temple to merge with the Olive Branch Lodge in Le Roy.

Jim Rosenbeck, master of the 151-year-old lodge, explained that since the Batavia Masons' lease expires this year, they are working on a merger with Le Roy to hopefully, "...get greater strength in numbers and get a higher profile for Masonry by merging and doing collaborative things."

In the process the lodge -- formed on April 9, 1859 -- will be dissolved.

The move is necessary because it's not financially viable for the 50-member lodge to pay rent. The lodge has occupied the building rent free for at least 15 years.

Rosenbeck said he wished nothing but the best for the Masonic Temple building and hoped that owner David Howe could find the right tenant to take care of it in the future.

Howe, who also owns Charles Men's Shop, acquired the building 15 years ago.

He gave The Batavian a tour of it earlier this week.

I was most impressed with the look of the "Lodge Room." Walking through the double doors and into the great hall, a view of throne-like chairs at the opposite side gave an almost humbling feeling. History seems to ooze out of the cracks of the walls in that place.

Theater seats line the sides of the great hall and a balcony that once held a pipe organ overlooks the room. The carpet is a fittingly ornate pattern and one of the earliest of "dimmers" can be found hulking underneath the light switches. When the giant crank is turned, the lights soften to a haunting glow.

"I love the history of this building and anything historic -- anything that is bigger than life," Howe said during our tour.

From the beginning, the Masons rented the first floor of the building to retail businesses and the second floor has always contained rented office space -- mostly used by attorneys until a few years ago.

The third and fourth floors have been shared by the Masons and Blue Pearl Yoga.

What happens next, Howe isn't quite sure.

He guessed that a theater group could work well, and apartments are possible, but improvements will be needed with either scenario.

At the time Howe acquired the building, the roof was in bad shape and a portion of the southeast corner of the building collapsed down to the basement. That's all been fixed, but other repairs are yet to be made.

As for the Masons, making tough choices to ensure their survival certainly isn't a new thing. The Le Roy Masons sold their lodge to make way for a Walgreens a few years ago, and after months of searching, decided to make 12 Bank St. in the village their new gathering place.

Historically, the Masons have found ways to keep their society thriving despite hardships. Former Holland Land Office Museum Director Patrick Weissand tells an interesting tale of William Morgan -- who learned the Masons' secrets but wasn't allowed to remain part of the lodge because he had a tendency to "shoot off his mouth" after drinking too much.

Although no one can prove exactly what happened to Morgan -- historians do know he was kidnapped and silenced after threatening to publish a book about the rituals of the freemasons. Weissand tells the riveting tale in a three-part video series here.

Although the Masons may have been a secretive society with an alleged political agenda in the past, Rosenbeck says that isn't what being a Mason is about.

"Basically, we are a benevolent organization that makes good men better," he said. "One of our goals is to provide services to the community that we're in and it's been sort of an issue with us lately because we have so few active members to do anything meaningful."

A good portion of the Batavia lodge treasury will be donated to local charitable groups, once the lodge disbands, Rosenbeck said. The rest will go to the Le Roy lodge, probably to help with construction of a kitchen there.

Rosenbeck says they do their best to donate to worthy causes. He pointed out that in order to be a Mason, one criteria is the belief in a Supreme Being.

"It's unique that the brotherhood of Masonry doesn't discriminate between religions. Christianity, Catholics, Muslims and Jewish beliefs and a few others can become Masons.

Rosenbeck said he regrets having to leave "the glorious old building" but it was a choice made out of necessity.

"Our decision to merge and join Le Roy has nothing to do with our feelings towards David Howe or the lodge building. We are going to really miss the beautiful place but this is something we need to do for our survival."

The permanent fixtures of the building -- such as distinctive door handles and the carved wood of the temple -- stay with the building. But the Batavia lodge owns all of the furniture -- such as the palace-like chairs in the temple and the two couches in the hallway -- and those will be taken to Le Roy. 

Photos by Howard Owens. Top, interior of the Masonic Temple. First inset, Jim Rosenbeck and his son Mike Rosenbeck. Mike is the last member of Lodge No. 475 to complete his Third Degree and sign the charter. Other insets, details from inside the building. Postcards provided by Dave Howe.

Ken and Andrea Mistler have made some big changes to their former coffee and smoothie shop at the corner of Main and Jackson streets.

The former Daily Grind is now Espresso Salads and Subs.

Ken Mistler said it was time to expand what the shop offered. While a prep area has been added for food service, much of the food prep -- including baking fresh sub rolls daily -- takes place at Mistler's other food establishment downtown, South Beach Restaurant.

Andrea manages day-to-day operations for the  sub and salad shop.

Subs and salads are made to order with fresh ingredients.

For the coffee and smoothie crowd, the full selection of the Daily Grind remains on the menu.

Mistler has also added free wi-fi and there are now leather chairs and couches available for customers. In the summer, Ken said, he will add outdoor seating.