Business

Press release:

Batavia Development Corporation (BDC) today announced its appointment of Julie Pacatte as the Economic Development Coordinator for the BDC. Ms. Pacatte was selected following a statewide recruitment process.

Ms. Pacatte has been involved with various aspects of economic development for the greater part of 20 years. From 1993-2003, she worked in real estate development in both Florida and Maryland. From 2003-2005, Julie served as the director of external affairs for the Schoharie County, NY, Chamber of Commerce in the Capital District region. From 2006-2010, Julie served as an economic development associate and Empire Zone coordinator for the Schoharie County Industrial Development Agency prior to relocating to Clarence, NY, with her family last year.

BDC President Ray Chaya said, “We are delighted to have Julie join our team. She brings a great deal of experience and background to Batavia and we look forward to working closely with her and other groups in the community to further push the city’s economic development efforts.”

The Batavia Development Corporation is a local development corporation established in 1994 to assist with economic development, redevelopment and job creation efforts within the City of Batavia. Since 2003, the City and BDC have accessed several statewide economic development programs in order to make small business loans and grants locally. As a result, more than $1.3 million has been awarded to 80 small businesses in the city that has leveraged nearly $2.5 million of private investment. Approximately 280 jobs have been created or retained in the last seven years.

“Julie brings a breath of fresh air to our economic development plans for the city. Her experience with communities of similar size to Batavia will be great asset moving forward,” commented BDC Vice President Dan Fischer.

Ms. Pacatte will be focused on administering the city revolving loan funds, assisting with small business development and growth, industrial/mixed use development, downtown growth/revitalization and administering economic development grant programs.

Currently the BDC offers two separate small business loan programs: a loan up to $30,000 to create or retain jobs and a grant/loan program providing up to $10,000 grant/$10,000 loan targeting business owners that are low to moderate income or have at least 51 percent of their employees in the low to moderate income level.

The new economic development coordinator position was funded through a formal partnership between the BDC and the City of Batavia. The partnership between the BDC and the city calls for $90,000 annual budget for a two-year trial period offering a $60,000 salary. The city has contributed $10,000 while the balance of funds are committed from the separate revolving loan program. Ms. Pacatte’s office is located in City Hall on the second floor.

Please contact Julie Pacatte at 345-6380 or visit the Batavia Development Corporation website at www.bataviadevelopmentcorp.org for more information.

It is "Genesee Cash Mob" day at Present Tense Books, on the corner of State and Washington.

The event, organized by Chris Charvella, is designed to encourage local residents to shop at local businesses. Each week -- this is the first week -- people nominate a local business to support for the day by spending at least $10 at the store. Present Tense won the first-round voting.

Rancho Viejo, Batavia's new Mexican restaurant, opened at 11 o'clock today.

Owner Leon Ramirez, right, said he decided to open a restaurant in Batavia because it seemed like a good market and there was no Mexican restaurant in Batavia.

Ramirez completely remodeled the former Ponderosa location on Ellicott Street.

This is Ramirez's fifth location. He also owns Mexican restaurants in Mt. Morris (his home), Cornell, Waterloo and Fairport.

"I invite everybody down to give us a try," Ramirez said. "I promise them very real Mexican food."

Pictured with Ramirez is Jonathan Martinez.

An idea born in Buffalo to promote locally owned businesses has spread to Genesee County.

It's called "Cash Mob."

The idea is to use social networking sites to organize local residents around one day of supporting a specific local business.

People nominate locally owned businesses using Facebook, Twitter or on a form on the WNYMedia.Net site. On Wednesdays, the business with the most votes is announced and a day is announced for supporters of the "Cash Mob" descend on the business and spend from $10 to $20.

The first time it was tried in Buffalo two weeks ago, a local win shop had 40 extra customers and more than $2,000 in revenue.

"It’s about generating excitement to shop locally," said Chris Chravella, who organized the Genesee Cash Mob. "We want people to have a fun reason to spend money in the community instead of (going to another local to spend money)."

People who want to vote can do so through on Twitter (send message to @GeneseeCashMob), Facebook or this WNYMedia.Net post.

Only businesses with local or regional owners will be considered. National chains and franchises are out.

Charvella said he hopes the "Cash Mob" idea (the brainchild of Chris Smith, from Buffalo) will help raise awareness of local businesses and help people maybe discover the benefits of a particular shop that they never visited before.

"Any time you can keep dollars in the community, it's a good thing," Charvella said. "Any time you can boost the local economy, it's a good thing. You cannot go wrong spending money at the place down the street."

Downtown Batavia can support a supermarket and a group of businessmen who have done the marketing research to prove it have entered into a lease agreement to open a Save-A-Lot in the former Latina's location on Ellicott Street.

The new store will be 18,000 square feet.

"These guys have really got their heads straight," said Vito Gautieri, the building's owner. "We were looking at another chain, but this one looked like the best deal. I think it will be really good for Downtown Batavia."

The Gautieri's own Washington Towers and Vito said the family recognized the need to bring a supermarket downtown, both for the sake of tenants at Washington Towers and also 400 Towers.

"We really need a supermarket downtown," Gautieri said.

In fact, said Gautieri, the family decided to pass on an offer from a discount retail chain that would have filled all 40,000 square feet of the building because the need seems so great to bring a supermarket to the space.

The ownership group, operating locally as Batavia Food, Inc., has three other Save-A-Lot locations. The other stores are in Wheatland, Salamanca and Bradford, Pa.

Save-a-Lots operates as a kind of co-op of locally licensed stores. The new owners of the planned Batavia store have no affiliation with the owners of the Le Roy Save-A-Lot.

Gautieri said the owners of the Le Roy store were given first crack at the Batavia location, but for some reason a deal couldn't be put together.

Now Gautieri and his son, Vic, need to work on getting a tenant for the remaining 22,000 square feet on the first floor. He said they already have a couple of solid leads on possible tenants.

Gautieri is still working on ideas about what to do with the second floor. The space is currently 15,000 square feet, but because the building was constructed to support warehouse space on the second floor, the second floor roof could be raised and the area expanded to 25,000 square feet.

If Gautieri decides to expand the second floor, the space would either become premium office space or residential apartments.

Even though there are some finishing touches left yet for the new patio at South Beach, the grill is open. Chef Arvin Ortiz opened the grill today with an offering of hamburgers, hot dogs and pulled pork. Throughout the remainder of the summer, the grill will be opened for lunch and dinner this weekend and, for now, lunch during the week. At times the menu will include ribs, chicken and other grilled dishes. Menu service from the main kitchen is also available on the patio. This afternoon, starting at 4, there will be live music on the patio, and the Ghost Riders play starting at 8 p.m., Saturday.

As part of a nationwide strike by 45,000 Verizon workers, there are pickets in place outside the Verizon office in Batavia that spans Jackson and Center streets.

Pictured above are Tom Pacia, of Rochester, Darrin Folger, of Akron, Kirk Myhill, of Medina, and Dave Martin, of Batavia.

O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, Inc., is receiving $204,000 in tax abatements through the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GDEDC) for an expansion at its facility at 700 Ellicott St., Batavia.

O-AT-KA intends to build a two-story dairy processing facility for producing dairy-based beverages and "ultra-filtered" milk ingredients. The project summary reads, "The additional dairy batch blend capacity allows more dairy-based products to be manufactured at O-AT-KA for shipment both nationally as well as exports."

Both projects would use milk produced exclusively in New York. O-AT-KA is receiving sales-tax exemption on construction material of $204,000. The estimated 10-year return on investment into the local economy is $21.2 million.

Graham Corp., of 20 Florence Ave., Batavia, is receiving a tax abatement of $125,906, through the GCEDC for the addition of a 10,000-square-foot sandblasting and painting building. Graham is receiving an $89,088 property-tax exemption (PILOT) and a sales-tax exemption on building materials of $36,818. The estimated 10-year economic impact is $89.8 million

Marktec Products, Inc., has been approved by the GCEDC for $57,109 in tax abatements for relocation to the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. Marktec, owned by Bill Cox, will build a 5,002-square-foot building on two acres of land in the park. The company will receive a property-tax exemption (a 60 percent PILOT) of $32,739, a sales-tax exemption on building material of $18,800 and a mortgage-tax exemption of $5,570. The project is expected to retain four jobs and create two new jobs. The estimated return on investment over 10 years for the local economy is $2.45 million.

Molasses Hill Bulk Foods is relocating from the Village of Alexander to a building on Ellicott Street.

Owner Shannon Harder said she hopes the new site will be open on Aug. 9.

Harder said moving was a simple business decision. While she had a core group of loyal customers in Alexander, there just weren't enough to sustain the business. She's hoping the bigger customer base of Batavia will help generate the kind of revenue she needs to stay open.

She also pointed out that the outside of the building (formerly Time Bomb Tattoo) will be repainted.

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer met with a group of business leaders at GCC this morning to provide an update on the recently completed legislative session in Albany and get feedback on issues of concern to local business.

Ranzenhofer opened with a talk highlighting the on-time budget that closed a $10 billion deficit with no tax increases and the first reduction in state spending in 15 years.

When the discussion opened, participants raised issues about the number of school districts in Genesee County, tourism grants, as well as Albany's seemingly less hostile attitude toward business and services provided by local government.

Jim Fulmer, CEO of the Bank of Castile and a former Le Roy School Board trustee, expressed concern about duplicative administrative services in the county's nine school districts.

"At some point, somebody will need to absolutely need to take a hold of this issue and deal with it," Fulmer said. "This has the potential to make some fundamental change in our tax structure."

Ranzenhofer said the governor and Senate are absolutely committed to making such fundamental changes in the structure of local governance.

Jeff Boshart, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce board and president of Boshart Enterprises, asked whether the state would continue to fund grants for promotion of tourism in the county, which he said is essential to attracting visitors from all over the region.

A year ago, when the grants were not funded, Ranzenhofer said it wasn't because the money wasn't available, rather it was spent on other priorities, adding, "priorities I didn't vote for or support."

He said the money would continue to be available so long as the legislature made it a priority.

In a statement that seemed to allude to the recent controversy in Le Roy over the fate of that community's public pool, Jerry McCullough (pictured, inset), representing the Le Roy Business Council, the Rotary Club and his own business, expressed concern about local governments using the recently approved property tax cap as an excuse to cut services.

"They're hiding behind the tax cap and cutting things that young families would enjoy," McCullough said. "They're cutting things that would bring young families to our community and help our business community. We're left with a lot of nothing and it's still costing us the same amount of money."

Ranzenhofer said as a person who owns a business located in a village, he understands the importance of village services that improve the business environment.

"I’ve seen first hand what a beautification project will do, what a sidewalk project will do, what a facade project will do, what a light project will do," the senator said. "I think these projects help improve the business climate."

Whether state grants are made available to help with such projects, Ranzenhofer said, depends on what priorities the governor and legislature set in future budgets.

Also attending were: Craig Alexander, O-AT-KA Milk; Allan Davis, Liberty Pumps; Jerry Kozowski, BEST Center; Rachael Tabelski (formerly Millspaugh), GCEDC; Steve Hyde, GCEDC; and Katie White, Le Roy Business Council.

There's a pizza joint in town that calls itself "Batavia's Original" and claims it was established in 1947, but whatever claim the shop has to a once legendary local pizzeria was lost three weeks ago when the company fired its manager, Sam Pontillo.

Pontillo helped a group of Rochester investors open the pizzeria at 500 E. Main St., Batavia, in a building that was once home to a Pontillo's restaurant owned and operated by Sam's parents, Sal and Betty Pontillo. 

Sal, more commonly known as Sam, with his brother Anthony, opened the original Pontillo's at the corner of Liberty and Ellicott streets in 1947. The original Pontillo's was the first pizzeria in Batavia and helped create a new pizzeria industry in Western New York.

Sam Pontillo says it's time for the Rochester-based owners to stop trading on his family's name.

Besides the claim to being established in 1947, the restaurant's menu also has a picture of Sal Pontillo right in the middle of it (pictured above).

"It (the menu picture) should come off now," Sam said. "There's no Pontillo involved and we’re not getting residual from it. They're going to milk it for as long as they can, but they should do the stand-up thing and remove it."

"As for the 1947," Sam added, "how can they really use it? There’s a family attachment to 1947. I’m sure some lawyer will say it’s just a number, but it’s a significant number to my family."

Batavia's Original is a DBA of Batavia Pizza, LLC, a creation of Thomas Masaschi, Jeffrey Reddish and Jason Teller.

The Rochester-based group acquired the 500 E. Main St. location in 2009 after a bank foreclosed on the property.

The owners then hired Sam, who still operated the Pontillo's location in Le Roy, as the new shop's general manager and opened as Pontillo's in April 2010.

A few months later, Anthony Pontillo's heirs (Anthony filed for a federal trademark on "Pontillo's" in the 1980s) filed a trademark infringement suit against Batavia Pizza, LLC.

The suit was settled out of court and and the name of the restaurant was changed.

Local sources who have followed the Pontillo's saga immediately speculated that without the ability to use the Pontillo's name, Sam Pontillo wouldn't be long for employment at Batavia's Original.

It's a bit of speculation that Sam, now out of Batavia's Original, doesn't argue against.

"I make no bones about it," Sam said. "I told our management staff that when the owners felt they could do it on their own, they wouldn't need me anymore because there was no longer a Pontillo's name on the sign."

Sam said he was let go three weeks ago because, he said he was told, he wasn't bringing in enough money.

"Of course, at some point about this time, I was due for a pay increase," Pontillo said. "It's a corporate thing. It's a story that's repeated all the time. They're hardcore businessmen."

The Batavian called the real estate investment office of Thomas Masaschi this afternoon and requested an interview. We were told he wasn't available and left a message. The call has not yet been returned.

Sam Pontillo said he isn't rooting against Batavia's Original at all. He said he's proud of the people he hired and trained and believes they will do a great job with the business.

"I think it will go on as long as everybody gets their noses to the grindstone and does what I taught them to do," Sam said. "It will continue to be a great place that employs a lot of kids from the community and continues to serve the community as it has always done." 

Sam Pontillo isn't the only Pontillo who takes issue with Batavia's Original trying to trade on the Pontillo's name. Sam's brother John was quite pointed in his remarks this morning.

"They're using my father's face on their menu and it's not right," John said. "I don't think it's very respectful to use a picture of a man who is dead. He hasn't endorsed their business."

John currently operates a pizzeria -- Gio Vanna's -- in Geneseo and was planning to open a shop in the former Pontillo's location in Le Roy.

After paying off back taxes on the property, John said he was planning to buy the building from the estate of Betty Pontillo, but he claims Sam removed the furnace and the hot water heater.

"The building we agreed to buy is not the same building the estate has for sale," John said.

Sam disagrees.

"If he would just look on the roof, there's a practically brand new heating system there," Sam said.

As for hot water, there's still hot water available in the building, Sam said.

He added that he thinks the Le Roy location is a fine building that he cared for meticulously.

"I hope somebody buys it," he said. "It's a great location."

As for Sam's future, it's wide open, he said.

He's looking at options for new businesses from Brooklyn to Albany and even Dubai.

"I'm 52," Sam said. "I figure I'll ride out the next project out until retire. Hopefully it will be rewarding, so I’m just being careful before I move on. 

"I'll tell you," he added. "I'm not missing working seven days a week."

Whatever the future, Sam said he doesn't see himself going back in business with his brothers John and Paul. There's just too much water under the bridge after a few years of disagreements.

"It's unfortunate how things worked out," Sam said. "We were all great buddies growing up, but business got in the way and killed those relationships."

But none of what has happened means there won't be a Pontillo's in Genesee County again some day.

"If I could swing it some time and open a Pontillo’s and show the neon sign again in Batavia, it would be a big hit," Sam said.

Even if isn't owned by Sam, he said he's got at least one son, now studying hospitality in college, who might want to operate a Pontillo's some day.

"If that’s what he wants, I'll absolutely go to it and get it done for him," Sam said.

He said he feels he still owns the rights to a Pontillo's business in Genesee County.

Asked if there was anything he wanted to add, Sam thanked his staff and customers.

"You're only as good as people around you," Sam said. "I had a great staff around me. I also just need to thank people of Batavia and Le Roy, where I think I still have a following. It was a pleasure to serve them, it was a ball, it was riot. I will miss the customers. Maybe someday I'll throw a party somewhere and invite them all over." 

For previous coverage of Pontillo's, click here.

It's always gratifying when I'm at some public event and a fan of The Batavian comes up to me and tells me how much he or she loves the site. The word "addiction" pops up frequently.

Often times I remind the fan, "If you love The Batavian, tell our sponsors."

With out the local businesses who support The Batavian, the site wouldn't exist.

So, please, when you shop or dine, try to support a local business first, and the local businesses you should support first and foremost are the ones that help keep The Batavian going.

To help you in your quest to support sponsors of The Batavian, here's an updated list:

A.D. Call and Sons
Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle
Alabama Hotel
Alberty Drug Store
Alex's Place
Alli's Cones and Dogs
Baker's Frontier Kitchens
Barrett's Batavia Marine and Sporting Supplies
Batavia Downs
Batavia Muckdogs
Beds 'n' Bones Pet Lodge
Beverly's Florist
Bohn's Restaurant
Bontrager's Auction
Bontrager's Real Estate
Bourbon & Burger Co.
Carlson's Studio
CASA
Cedar St. Sales and Rentals
Center Street Smokehouse
Classic Home Improvements
Clor's Meat Market
Cookies & Milk
Computer & Phone Repair
Crazy Cheap Cars
Cruiser's Creamery
D&R Depot Restaurant
Dan's Tire
Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern
The Detail Shop
Dupont TV
Empire Tractor
The Enchanted Florist
Espresso Salads and Subs
EZ Budget Insurance
Fastec Automotive
Fedora's Diner
Ficarella's Pizzeria
Foxprowl Collectibles
Genesee Community College
Genesee County Emergency Services
Genesee Country Farmers Market
Genesee Dental Group
Genesee Graphics
Gilmartin
Glass Roots
Grammy's Laundry
Greens of LeRoy
H.E. Turner & Co.
Hardcor Audio
Hawley's Hots
High Voltage Tattoo
Holy Family School
I.R. Systems
The Insurance Center
J. Leonard McAndrew
Jagged Edges Salon
John's Service Station
Ken Barrett
KleenAll
Kraving's Kafe
Kreative Design Kitchen & Bath
L.C. Mosman
Lamb Family Medicine
Larry's Steakhouse
Lathan Tree Service
Le Roy Hearth and Home
Lei-Ti Campground
LPL Financial
Main St. Pizza Company
Making Memories of Travel
The Mane Attraction
The Manor House
Mark Lewis Agency
Matteo & Mullen, CPA
Max Pies
Michael Tomaszewski
Millennium Computer
Minty Wellness
Next Level Fitness
Nothnagle - Danielle Torcello
Nothnagle - Frank Minuto
O'Lacy's Irish Pub
Oliver's Candies
Optique
Pauly's Pizza
Pellegrino Auto Sales
Planned Parenthood
Present Tense Books
Pudgie's Lawn and Garden Center
Red Osier
Russell Marchese, DDS
Scofield Roll-Off Service
Scratch Bakery
Select Collision
Settler's Restaurant
South Beach
South Main Country Store
Stafford Trading Post
Southside Deli
Terry Hills
The Finishing Line
Tim Kabel Building
T.F. Brown's
Valle Jewelers
Viking Valhalla/Rose Bowl
Windy Woods Custom Design
West Main Wine & Spirits
WNY Fireplace Outlet
Yassess Construction
Zoom N Groom Dog Grooming

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C – Batavia) recently attended a press conference at Monroe Community College announcing the creation of the area’s first Regional Economic Development Council. Joining Governor Andrew Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, Hawley expressed his optimism to see such hands-on efforts to improve the economy here in Western New York.

“Today signals the beginning of a new day for the Western New York economy,” Hawley said. “I am especially pleased to see that Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy will be the chair of all 10 regional councils. Hailing from our region, he has been a tremendous advocate on behalf of Western New York, and I have full confidence that he will be even more helpful in this new capacity.

"I have had a number of face-to-face and phone conversations with him to discuss the priorities facing the business owners and job creators in my district, and I know that the formation of this regional council will only continue to spur the growth and revitalization of Western New York’s economy.”

Ten regional economic development councils will be created across the state to compete for $1 billion in funding that will be geared toward jump-starting local economies. The panels are comprised of leaders from government, business and academia, and will partner with community leaders and state legislators to craft projects that will benefit their geographic and demographic needs.

Press release from the Genesee County Economic Development Center:

For the second year in a row Genesee County has been recognized in the top five of the rankings for Metro Food Processing Industry Growth by the National Site Selection publication, Business Facilities Magazine (July/August Edition). Genesee County has New York State's highest percentage of classified farmland, three of the top 100 vegetable farms nationwide and is first in agriculture sales statewide. More than two-thirds of Genesee County's acreage is used for agriculture and employs more than 1,500 workers.

Agri-Business is the number one industry in Genesee County and naturally where the crop is grown and the cows are plenty, food processing plants spring up. Genesee County is home to O-AT-KA Milk, Yancey’s Fancy, Allan’s Canning, and the new home of Alpina Foods, LLC. 

“The completion of the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and the announcement of Colombia-based Alpina Foods, LLC’s decision to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant at the park underscores the strength of our region’s food and beverage manufacturing sector,” stated Steve Hyde, president and CEO of Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC). “We have strategically invested in building an infrastructure to attract food and dairy processing companies."

Alpina, one of the most recognized dairy companies in the world and a leading dairy producing company in Colombia and South America, has decided to open its first specialty yogurt manufacturing plant in the United States by mid-August and will be the first occupant of the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. 

The GCEDC has developed the largest agri-business park in the nation.  The Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, a public-private partnership between GCEDC and Farm Credit East, encompasses 202 shovel-ready, pre-permitted acres in the center of Western New York.

The park was designed with food-processing companies in mind, and on site there is access to low cost process water via a local aquifer – that produces more than 6+ million gallons per day and a pretreatment facility (Ecolab). A robust utility infrastructure throughout includes rail access. In 2010 municipal water lines were brought into the park as well as gas and electric and the main roadway was constructed. Recently the GCEDC was awarded a $3.9 million New York State grant to bring rail and a cross dock into the park. 

Supporting the agri-business industry of Genesee County are world-class Universities including Cornell and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Cornell University is the leader in food science research and transfers research-based information and technology for the food systems of New York State. Within the department of Food Science, six organizations specifically provide direct support to the dairy industry.

RIT’s Packaging Science Department works closely with a variety of companies in Genesee County and across the U.S. to create sustainable environmentally friendly packaging. The university also explores cooperative global opportunities for students to work in manufacturing facilities.

The university resources, skilled workforce and available facilities, combined with the area’s steep agri-business and manufacturing heritage give rise to unbridled growth in Genesee County’s food processing capabilities.

In business, it often comes down to location, and Bill Cox thinks he's found the perfect location to move his business -- to the new Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.

"I have the opportunity, if all the stars align, to do a significant amount of business (in the new park)," Cox said following a Town of Batavia Planning Board meeting Tuesday evening.

The board approved a site plan for Cox to build a 5,002 sq. ft. facility on two acres of land just inside the new park.

There had been some question as to whether Cox's business, Marktec, was sufficiently agriculture related to be allowed in the park, but Cox said almost all of his customers are food processing companies.

Marktec makes the machines that encode information -- the little laser-printed use-by dates -- on food and beverage packaging.  

The Batavia city councilman currently has an office on Ellicott Street across from the Chapin plant and Oatka Milk headquarters. Moving into the town, Cox said, is going to help him convert new tenants of the agri-park into customers.

Being right in the park will give Marktec greater visibility with the food processing companies anticipated to move in. (So far, only Alpina Products has committed to building in the agri-park.)  That should translate into more sales of his high-speed label machines. It will also give food processing companies a convenient local vendor for supplies and service of existing equipment.

Chris Suozzi, VP of business development for Genesee County Economic Development Center, said Marktec fits well with the proscribed types of businesses being allowed into the ag park. The parcel Marktec will build on is also not prime real estate. While it's near Route 5, it's not right at the entrance and the location is not well suited for construction of a manufacturing facility.

Cox said he is founder, sole owner, president and chief sales person for Marktec, which has been in business for 28 years.

The company currently has four full-time and one part-time employees. With the move, Cox said he anticipates hiring another salesperson and a second full-time tech within the next three years.

It's not often that the CEO of a multinational corporation drops in on a Town of Batavia Planning Board meeting, but Alpina Product's Julian Jaramillo just happened to be in town today.

Jaramillo (above, left), lives in Colombia, but as he guides his company toward its first expansion into the United States, he needs to visit the area where he hopes to soon employ more than 50 people.

He said he is very excited about the opportunity for Alpina in Western New York.

"We've gotten great support," Jaramillo said. "This is a huge opportunity. It is our future and success in this country is important to the growth of our company."

Based in Bogata, Alpina is a food processing company that specializes in dairy products.

Early reports about Alpina's expansion focused on the opportunity for the company to market its products to the growing Hispanic population in the Northeast. But Jaramillo shook his head and said no when asked if that was the marketing plan for the company's new yogurt product.

Managing Director Carlos Ramirez Zavarce (above, right) jumped in and said the company's goals go far beyond a niche market.

"To be honest, we can leverage our brand to create cash flow by selling to Hispanics, but when we did our research three years ago, we found we could have the confidence to go mainstream," Ramirez said. "Instead of fighting for small pieces of the pie by creating a niche market, we're going after a mainstream market."

The company is planning to go big in the U.S., Ramirez explained through what he called an "insurgent" strategy.

Currently, two companies, Yoplait and Dannon, control 80 percent of the yogurt market. To compete, Alpina must offer a product that is different enough from the established brands to find new customers.

To that end, Alpina hired a New York-based chef with an expertise in health and wellness recipes to come up with new yogurt products for Alpina.

It is those new products that will be made and distributed from the Batavia plant.

"They're (Yoplait and Dannon) are great, they’re big and they're awesome, but it's (all the) same stuff, same models," Ramirez said. "If you look at a company like Chobani Greek Yogurt, they started three or five years ago and they do things differently. That’s what I mean by insurgent. Insurgent is just a way of thinking. Do things differently, not just from a marketing perspective, but from the products you launch."

If the strategy is successful, Alpina sees expanding beyond just New York, Toronto and the Tri-State market, and going into the South and then nationwide.

The expansion would mean adding additional refrigerated storage to the Batavia plant.

The plant as initially constructed is expected to be 40,000 sq. ft., expandable to 120,000 sq. ft.  

The site plan was presented to the Town of Batavia Planning Board on Tuesday evening and the plan was approved by a vote of 6-0.

Alpina hopes to complete its purchase of the 10-acre parcel in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park by Aug. 15 and break ground immediately.

The goal is to get the structure built before winter sets in and then take care of interior construction during the cold months. If all goes according to plan, the company can start gearing up for production in May with the first product shipments in June.

Ramirez said Alpina picked Batavia (over the other finalist, Scranton) because: there is easy access to both raw product and shipment of finished product; there is a local labor pool with expertise in dairy products; the great people the company worked with at GCEDC; generous tax abatements; the close proximity to Cornell University and RIT; the two million people between Rochester and Buffalo as well as being centrally located to the markets Alpina wants to target first.

There is a great market to pursue here, Ramirez told the board.

"You see companies trying to go national at some point, but there is a narrow market we can pursue here and just concentrate on here for a few years and become profitable."

For our previous coverage of Alpina, click here.

UPDATE: WBTA's Geoff Redick produced a video about Tuesday's meeting.

CPR (Computer and Phone Repair) is now open for business and co-owner Rich Clark said he wants people to know the new shop will emphasize customer service.

"Our motto is 'pay for what's needed and nothing more,'" Clark said. "We focus on the customer and try to save them as much as we possibly can."

The store opened two weeks ago and Clark and partner Jim Vo hosted a grand opening over the weekend, but word is already spreading fast about the new shop, Clark said.

“We want people to feel like they're getting more than what they're paying for," Clark said. "We stand behind all of our work. Don’t forget we were once on the other side of the desk and understand how it is to be the consumer. We understand that our customers may not know as much as we do, so we want them to feel comfortable and not as if they're being belittled or taken advantage of.”

A Batavia native, Clark has years of experience in computer repair, including stints at other local repair shops.

As the name says, CPR does more than repair computers. These days, many phones are just miniature computers and they can be as expensive as some desktops.

“Most people don't know that the cell phone they received when starting their contract can run as much as $700 to replace," Clark said.

CPR is an authorized Dish Network retail outlet and has also partnered with a Rochester-based company to offer website design.

The new shop is located at 216 E. Main St., Batavia, and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The store number is 344-7085.

Photo: Rich Clark in his repair shop holding a laptop that has previously been mentioned in The Batavian. In December, 2008, Clark posted a free classified ad about the laptop being stolen. The ad may have led to the return of the computer.