By the time I made it out the shopping center on Veterans Memorial Drive, the Black Friday crowds had subsided, but the mall's developer, Cor Development Group, had brought in a horse-drawn wagon for customers. Santa was supposed to show up later in the afternoon and the company is planning a fireworks show for this evening.
Congresswoman Kathy Hochul will be in Genesee County on Saturday as part of "Small Business Saturday," a national effort to encourage consumers to shop locally this holiday season.
Small businesses are the backbone of any community and Hochul made supporting locally owned businesses part of her campaign platform.
On Saturday, Hochul will be at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles on Center Street at 1:15 p.m. Hochul will also stop at Vintage and Vogue in Le Roy at 2:15 p.m.
Project Wave -- which we now know is being pursued by PepsiCo -- will be the largest yogurt plant in North America, according to an industry expert with more than 15 years in the field.
Jeff Stephen, a consultant with Productive Partners, said in an interview today that what Pepsi is planning is impressive and will be a huge benefit to the community and the local dairy industry.
"Pepsi isn't the kind of company that is going to go anywhere," Stephen said. "They're not going to cut back because of any shortage of money. This is everything you could ask for in a local community. They are going to be successful. Not everything will go to plan, but they will succeed. This is a major global commitment."
Based on industry reports, Pepsi wants to get into the yogurt business. The multinational firm is planning a merger of sorts with Theo Muller Group, a German company that makes seven different yogurt products.
Stephen said companies for years have been trying to crack the U.S. yogurt market in the belief that American consumers don't buy as much yogurt as they should. Europeans consume five or six times as much yogurt as Americans, Stephen said.
The key to the U.S. yogurt market, Stephen said, is to make yogurt with more body and texture, a yogurt that can be consumed as a meal or a key ingredient in a meal. Growth in the U.S. yogurt market has been thwarted, Stephen said, because too much of the product available in the U.S. is what Stephen called "crappy dessert yogurt."
The key to the U.S. market is Greek yogurt, which has more flavor, is more filling and has greater nutritional value.
That's the kind of yogurt that will be the basis of Alpina's product line. Alpina was the first big signing for Genesee County Economic Development Center in the new ag park. Alpina is building an initially 10,000-square-foot facility that will employ 50 people.
Pepsi's plans begin with a 300,000-square-foot facility that will employ 180 people, with a build out by 2033 of 16 production lines and 600 employees.
There is no yogurt plant in North America that's close to that size, Stephen said.
When Stephen saw what was being planned for Project Wave, as first reported on The Batavian, he figured Pepsi, whose plans with Theo Muller had already been reported by the Wall Street Journal, was a likely prospect for the property. A project of that size would almost certainly be a plant for a large corporation moving into a new product line.
The deal bringing Pepsi to Batavia hasn't been signed yet, but construction has begun on the facility and Pepsi is clearly eager to get its new product to market by 2013.
Stephen just hopes Pepsi is planning a yogurt line based on Greek yogurt and not "crappy dessert yogurt," which he doesn't think will help Pepsi or other yogurt makers expand the U.S. market.
Whatever Pepsi does, he doesn't see the Pepsi products competing directly with Alpina, which will be producing a slightly higher end yogurt and going after niche markets.
Pepsi's main competitors will be Dannon and Yoplait.
Dannon, based in White Planes, is a pure dairy company and between its two main brands, controls about 38 percent of the yogurt market. Yoplait, owned by General Mills, has another 6 percent. The rest of the market is shared by regional players and store brands, some of which, Stephen said, are very good.
Another potential local player in the yogurt market is O-AT-KA Milk Products, which is owned by Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
The rumor is that a current expansion at O-AT-KA is for the local plant to start making yogurt ingredients.
It's unknown who the ingredients will be sold to, but Upstate purchased a 100-year-old, one-line yogurt plant in Watertown about a year ago.
Charitably, Stephen said, the Watertown plant is "historic," but it shows Upstate's intention to move into the yogurt business.
Whatever product Pepsi brings to market, Stephen said, will be thoroughly researched and well marketed.
"I have very high respect for Pepsi," Stephen said. "They are efficient in manufacturing and production and very good marketers. They are not the kind of company that gives up."
It's unknown whether Pepsi will purchase its dairy products through O-AT-KA or directly from farmers (those are discussions that probably haven't even taken place yet, Stephen said), but as for farmers, Stephen said they will be happy working with Pepsi.
Pepsi, he said, takes an approach that being easy to work with helps lower costs.
"I think the farmers will want to do business with them," he said.
As for milk supply, the market will probably be shaken up for awhile initially, but the big farmers have little trouble adding capacity (more cows) and there should be an ample milk supply in Western New York to meet the needs of Pepsi, Alpina and O-AT-KA, and any other players that enter the market at the ag park.
Perhaps the worst news for other dairy businesses, Stephen said, is that if Pepsi wants to hire an employee, they will hire that employee. They will spend what it takes, he said, to get the best employees, especially in key positions.
But it's a great pool of employees that is attracting Pepsi to Batavia, Stephen said.
For years, he's been telling dairy companies to stop manufacturing in places like Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia because the standard of living is so much better in smaller communities.
Employees can actually afford to buy a house in a place like Batavia. That isn't true in larger population centers. And, Stephen said, the schools are good, and that's attractive to a major employer.
"You have a pretty high quality of life," Stephen said. "It's a pretty attractive place to put people who are going to work for you for a long time."
Press release:
Join in the holiday spirit at the first “Taste of the Holidays” on Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3 in the Holiday Tent at Jackson and Main streets.
Friday, Dec. 2 (5:30 - 9 p.m.):
5:30 p.m. - Lighting of the community Christmas tree and singing of carols. Tree is next to Bank of America on Main Street.
In the Holiday Tent (6 to 9 p.m.): More than 10 great area restaurants will be providing a tasting of their menu specialties. They will be handing out coupons and selling gift certificates for the holidays. For entertainment, the OHMS Band will be performing. The cost is $5 per person and children are free.
Community bonfire on Center Street (across from Adam Miller Toy)
Saturday, Dec. 3 (11 a.m. - 3 p.m.):
In the Holiday Tent: Free holiday activities for the children, i.e. decorating ornaments and other holiday crafts). Holiday gift items for sale by local organizations. Entertainment: Bart Dentino & Kevin Huber and the McMahon Irish School of Dance.
Horse & Wagon Rides on Center Street (12 - 3 p.m.): Rides cost $1 per person with proceeds going to the Donny Carroll Toys for Kids fund.
Hosted by the Batavia Business Improvement District.
For more information visit: www.downtownbataviany.com or Facebook: downtown Batavia Business Improvement District.
I went out to the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park this morning to meet WHAM13's Sean Carroll and the amount of progress that has been made by construction crews since Tuesday was noticeable.
It was impressive seeing more than a half-dozen pieces of heavy machinery moving around the 81-acre parcel at breakneck speed. There is a clear sense of urgency to complete phase one of construction before the worst of winter sets in.
And seeing the sewer lines being installed felt like another piece of the puzzle falling into place. The Cedar Street sewer line connecting Main Street and the ag park was only finished last week.
PepsiCo started construction as soon as the sewer line project was complete, even though not too many major construction projects in WNY begin in the middle of November. Somebody is pretty serious about being ready to begin physical plant construction in the spring.
Carroll's report tonight on Rochester's Channel 13 will be not just about Project Wave, but the scope of the uptick in activity at the ag park and what it means for Genesee County.
Press release:
The Batavia Area Jaycees are a group of young adults which organize events to enhance the community and each other’s leadership skills. Their longest-running project has been the annual home show, which they are ending after 58 years.
In its place, they are excited to unveil a much more relevant show to the community in 2012, the Genesee Region Expo.
This new concept will combine the proven components of their old home show with a more extensive representation of businesses in the Genesee region. A wider cross-section of local vendors should attract a greater number of local consumers.
The first Genesee Region Expo or GRE will be held at the Batavia City Centre from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 4. Admission for spectators will be free. There will be plenty of demonstrations, workshops, seminars and entertainment on the center stage all weekend long, plus a food court and raffle opportunities. Many businesses will also have items for sale.
There is space available for nearly 100 exhibitors. Interested vendors can call the Jaycee hotline at 585-343-5775 to request a vendor packet or go to www.jci.cc/batavia. This includes a price schedule which outlines early response and multiple-unit discounts.
The Jaycees are excited about offering this event to the community and look forward to breathing new life into something that has the potential to be of major importance for the Batavia area and Genesee region.
Brenda Richardson, manager of Batavia's Coffee Culture location thought an empty room in their building was going to waste, so she suggested turning it into an event center available to the community.
Her bosses apparently liked the idea because Thursday evening, Chamber President Lynn Freeman joined her for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new room.
The room is available for rental for parties, meetings and other group gatherings.
The spacious room is decorated with paintings by local artists. The paintings are also for sale.
Among the handouts for chamber members at the ribbon cutting was a flier advertising the availability of the Coffee Culture store to a franchisee. According to the flier, for an investment of about $295,000, you could become the owner of your own coffee house right in Downtown Batavia. SBA loans are available.
Members of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce gathered at Terry Hills this afternoon for the chamber's annual meeting and installation of officers.
Chamber President Lynn Freeman gave an update on chamber activities and spoke about the chamber's decision to partner with Tompkins Insurance to provide a new health insurance plan to members (key reasons -- the ability to offer monthly payments for members and eliminating a fee the chamber had to charge with the former plan).
JoAnne McInerney from Tompkins also spoke about the state of the health insurance industry and the trend away from co-pay plans to higher deductible plans.
A pair of top executives from the company behind a development in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park in Batavia were on hand this morning to see the first of several tons of dirt get moved from one spot to another.
Even without a purchase agreement to buy the 81-acre parcel from GCEDC, the company is apparently eager to get this project under way immediately to meet a deadline for product production of early 2013.
The company wants site grading completed before the worst of winter hits.
While the executives did not want to be identified in publication, sources in the dairy industry have fingered PepsiCo as the company likely behind "Project Wave."
It makes sense.
According to a story in the Oct. 14 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Pepsi is embarking on a partnership with a yogurt company based in Germany in an effort to enter the fast-growing yogurt market in the United States.
This would be Pepsi's first foray into the U.S. dairy business, but fits an overall strategy laid out in the business press for Pepsi to grow market share in nutritional foods as the market for soft drinks declines.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm that has led Project Wave through the regulatory process and start of construction is Haskell Architects and Engineers. On its website, Haskell lists PepsiCo as among its clients.
While the executives at the construction site this morning asked that their names not be published, an internet search of one of the executive's names confirmed he is an employee of PepsiCo.
The executive made it clear, however, that Batavia is only one site among four under consideration and his employer hasn't made a final decision on which site it will construct its plant.
It is, however, the site that is being bulldozed. And the company seems eager, and has big plans, to enter the U.S. yogurt market by 2013.
According to Project Wave specs, the plant will eventually employ 600 people working three different shifts on 16 production lines.
Assuming it opens on schedule in 2013, the plant will initially employ 180 people working on three production lines.
Both executives praised GCEDC and the Town of Batavia for having this shovel ready site available.
"There are only three of our four sites in the northeast that would be ready this quickly for production," one executive said. "These shovel-ready projects are key to attracting big companies."
Mike Wheeler, the project's architect, was also on site this morning and reiterated the importance of having all of the regulatory approvals in place, along with the infrastructure necessary for the project to get started right away.
"My hats off to these guys," Wheeler said. "They put the community in the best possible position for this project."
When an as-yet-unnamed company breaks ground on a development project Wednesday morning, it could mean as many as 600 new jobs in Batavia some day, and it will mark the end of a 15-day sprint to get the project pushed through the local and state regulatory process.
At the end of Tuesday's Town of Batavia Planning Board meeting, where a site plan and a change in the parcel map were approved, Chris Souzzi, VP of business development for GCEDC, said the swiftness of the approval process proves why shovel-ready business parks are so important.
"We can see now why we need these parks," Souzzi said. "Here we have a company that wants to build this fast, and in 15 days, you (the planning board) just approved a site plan. That's huge and that's why they're here."
Michael Wheeler, representing "Project Wave," as the secretive food-processing development is known, said the fact that the nine-month-long environmental review process had already been completed for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, plus the review was a spot-on match for the kind of site contemplated in Project Wave, were huge factors in the client picking Batavia.
That said, not much is in writing yet.
The company has yet to close escrow on the 81-acre parcel and land in Avon and two already graded parcels in Pennsylvania are still, at least marginally, in the running for the big plant.
And the plant is big. In phase one, it will exceed 300,000 square feet, and if built out fully will have a 120-foot high cold storage tower (modeled after a similar automated storage tower owned by Wegmans near the airport in Rochester).
On day one, if it opens on schedule in January or February of 2013, the facility will employ 180 people and operate three production lines. At full build-out, the plant will employ 600 people on 16 production lines, all working in three daily shifts.
Grading and foundation preparation work begins at Wednesday morning and the unnamed company wants to see work completed by the end of December, according to Wheeler.
"At that point, it just gets so miserably cold up here that us Southerners can’t work any more," said Wheeler, who lives in Florida.
The company isn't scheduled to take possession of the property until the fall of 2012, when it will start moving in its production equipment.
UPDATED to add a picture I forgot to post last night of Mike Wheeler, left, and Paul Marchese.
Michael Tomaszewski, right, marvels at the fact that he and business partner Dave Stupp have remained friends through seven and a half years of operating the Batavia Party House together.
Friends that go into business together often don't stay friends, Tomaszewski noted today.
The two businessmen were talking about a change in their partnership, one that will spell the end of the Batavia Party House as we know it.
While the partners will continue to operate a catering service together, the party house, after more than 40 years in business, is hosting its last party on Monday.
Both Tomaszewski and Stupp have stakes in other local businesses, and those have increasingly become a focus of their time and resources. Operating the Batavia Party House -- located at 5762 E. Main St. Road, Batavia -- has simply become something they no longer wish to do.
"Since we began this place together, our lives have gone in different directions," Tomaszewski said. "Dave has the pizza business (partner in Pauly's Pizza) and the deli (Northside Deli). I have the funeral business (Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral and Cremation Chapel), and those businesses are doing well."
Stupp and pizzeria partner Paul Bernardini recently expanded Pauly's Pizza into Clarence. Tomaszewski recently added a reception center next to his funeral home on West Main Street.
"We have other business interests now," Stupp added.
Stupp and Tomaszewski tried finding a buyer for the party house, which was founded in the 1970s by Tom and Bill Barber.
"This part of town is growing, with what's going on at the ag park and Adams trucking coming in next door, we've had a lot of interest in the building," Stupp said. "But, nobody has come forward with an interest in the party house as a party house."
A service company from Bethany will receive $45,956 in tax abatements to assist in its expansion and relocation to Stafford, announced the Genesee County Economic Development Center today.
Adams Welding and Fabrication is constructing a new 5,616-square-foot building at 5782 Main Road, Stafford (next to the Batavia Party House).
The project will create half a job and retain one.
Adams is investing $175,000 in the project.
The estimated PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) on the project is $39,131. Adams will also receive a sales tax exemption on construction materials of $5,200 and a mortgage tax exemption of $1,625.
The company is also seeking $25,000 from GCEDC's revolving loan fund.
The direct economic benefit to the community is estimated at $855,000 ($18.61 for every $1 of abatement).
Construction on a food and beverage processing plant at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, which could some day employ as many at 600 people, might begin in 10 days.
The company planning the facility is pushing hard to get all of the permitting done to enable groundbreaking by Nov. 17.
The project -- known as Project Wave -- would initially employ 180 people.
Confidentiality agreements prevent representatives of the Genesee County Economic Development Center from revealing the name of the company purchasing the 81-acre parcel in the park or what product will be produced there.
On Monday, the Town of Batavia Planning Board, conducted a public meeting to review the potential environmental impact of the facility. Because a full environment review was completed for the ag park already, the board needed only to look at the three issues that are out of variance with what previously passed review.
On Thursday, the project will go before the Genesee County Planning Board for review. It must also yet be approved by the town's Zoning Appeals Board.
Asked if a groundbreaking on Nov. 17 was realistic, given all of the regulatory hurdles yet to be cleared, Town Engineer Steve Mountain said he didn't anticipate a problem.
"With the work they've done, with the plans they've presented, yes," Mountain said. "These guys are good."
The firm handling the planning for the unnamed company is Haskell Architects and Engineers out of Jacksonville, Fla.
The big issue for review on Monday is the height of the facility.
A refrigerated warehouse will initially be 45-feet high, but by the time the plant is at capacity (by 2033), the height will be 120 feet.
Batavia's code limits building height to 40 feet.
The facility also will include, at capacity: two tanks 77 feet high; two that are 65 feet high; and 16 that are 50 feet high.
The board found that even at these heights, the facility will have no significant visual impact on the surrounding area. The facility will still be barely visible from Route 5 or Route 63, and even the nearest residents (the Roland Circle and Haven Lane developments) won't have much of an obstructed view.
Parking is another issue that the board needed to review.
The facility will be operational at all times and employees will work in three shifts. There will be enough parking to accomodate rotation of each shift.
The town's code calls for parking spaces that are 10 x 20, but the code was intended primarily to ensure adequate parking in a retail environment.
Mountain said the requested spaces of 9 x 18 is adequate for this facility.
"By providing the smaller spaces on this project, it helps preserve some of the green space and it lowers the cost to the developer," Mountain said.
The other issue is the amount of water the facility plans to use, but Mountain said it wouldn't be a significant impact because the park was planned with more than enough capacity to meet the facility's needs.
After the meeting, Mountain cautioned that the project could still fall through.
"I've seen it happen before," Mountain said, noting that Haskell has completed all of the engineering on the site and, pending approvals, there's no reason construction can't begin on the anticipated Nov. 17 date.
Mark Masse, from GCEDC, said after the meeting that there's still no indication of when the project will be announced officially.
Haskell's project plans show ground work being completed by Dec. 31, with final site plan review and building permits issued during the winter. Final site work and building construction would take place in the spring. Equipment installation would be completed by the fall and the plant would go into production next winter.
It would open with three production lines and grow to five production lines in the near future. The mid-term plan is 10 production lines, and the ultimate plan is 16 production lines.
Previously:
Six weeks since opening, Krista Maniscalco, left, says business is good at her new deli on Oak Street, even without much promotion.
Gigi's is in the former location of Salome's and features subs, hot sandwiches and pizza, all made from fresh ingredients and cooked to order.
Maniscalco, pictured with her mother Linda Sprung, said opening in Batavia -- her husband, Charles, owns Scooter's in Le Roy -- means she has to emphasize quality.
"Here you have competition everywhere, so you've got to be a cut above," Maniscalco said.
She then added, "faith and family is a big part of what we do."
This week workers have been repairing the corner of the facade of the building at Main and Jackson streets. The century-old facade of the former Bank of Genesee had expanded away from the brick and masons restored it to its former look. The building is owned by Ken Mistler.
Becky Smith, of Bergen, is the lucky winner of an iPad following a drawing at Main St. Pizza Company. Owner Vic Marchese gave away the iPad as part of a promotion honoring National Pizza Month in October. Customers were able to fill out registration forms at the restaurant and Smith's slip was selected in a random drawing.
A Canadian company is finally able to proceed with plans to build a mushroom farm at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
The company, known for the project as Genesee Valley Mushrooms, Inc., (GVM) was originally considered the first business to commit to the ag park back in 2008, but the deal stalled.
GVM will purchase 10 acres in the park and employ 100 people.
In the ag park, GVM will build a 70,000-square-foot growing facility. It's also planning a 37,000-square-foot facility for substrate, the material for growing mushrooms, off Wortendyke Road in Batavia. That substrate facility could use, among other material, the byproduct (manure) of Batavia Downs.
The company is expected to spend more $20 million on construction of the facilities.
Genesee County's Ways and Means Committee approved a grant application resolution to receive funding for the project from the state. The exact amount of the grant has not been determined.
The grant application needs to come from the county government.
Mark Masse, a VP with GCEDC, said the facility will be the first mushroom growing facility in the state. Grocery stores throughout New York will be able to market the mushrooms as locally grown.
With an unnamed business near closing on an 81-acre parcel, plus Marktec, the GVM project, and Alpina combined with Alpina's first-right-of-refusal on another 10 acres in the park, the 200-acre ag park is nearly half sold.
The park could fill up quickly, Masse said.
"We have more companies in the pipeline than available acreage at the park," Masse said.
WHAM-13's Sean Carroll is working on a follow-up to our stories on a possible giant food processing plant targeted for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and had an opportunity to ask Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy about the plans today.
Here's the exchange:
Sean Carroll: "Genesee County Ag Park is one of a couple locations in this region being eyed-up by possibly a food processing company, 200 to 300 jobs, what do you know about it and what can you tell us about it?”
Duffy: “Well, I know one thing, on one of the worst weather days of the year I was out at a meeting in Genesee County on that location. I know the state is working very hard with Genesee County right now. I don't want to negotiate or talk about the details of that discussion right now but we're working very, very hard on that and hopefully it will come to fruition."
Carroll has spoken with state-level officials who confirmed the details of what we've been able to report so far.
Town of Batavia officials are going to work as quickly as possible to get development plans reviewed and approved for a food processing facility on an 81-acre parcel at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
Sources tell The Batavian that a company is planning a large facility that could employee from 200 to 300 people. But when asked for confirmation on details Tuesday night, GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde said confidentiality agreements prevent him from discussing both the name of the company and the nature of the processing plant.
While Hyde cautioned that the deal is "not 100 percent," it's clear from the discussion of planning board and zoning board members Tuesday night that the company is serious about building its new plant in Batavia.
"This project is going to move very fast," said Gary Diegelman, chairman of the zoning board.
It must, Hyde said.
"They want to move very fast," Hyde said. "There is some extended time frame for negotiations, but they want to get moving in advance to take advantage of the good weather before it gets nasty."
The zoning board will meet Nov. 7 to discuss three requested variances to the zoning code.
The company is requesting permission to build a warehouse higher than the 40 feet allowed by the zoning code, Diegelman said. The initial request is to build a 45-foot-high warehouse, but the company anticipates eventually expanding to 120 feet high.
Diegelman suggested the board just consider approving the 120-foot high variance now to save the company the trouble of coming back later for a new variance.
Because of the Monroe County water towers on the other side of Route 5, and variance already granted for the O-AT-KA Milk Products plant, the variance shouldn't be a problem, Diegelman indicated.
The company also wants to provide parking based on three shifts of workers, rather than a number of parking spaces dictated by the total square feet of the facility.
And they want parking spaces that are 9' x 18' rather than the code of 10' x 20', but the variance request is not unusual in the town.
As for the planning board, it will hold a meeting to discuss any changes in the SEQR process. The ag park already has been through environmental review, but the 81-acre project could have additional or different environmental impacts that need to be considered.
On Nov. 14, the board will discuss a proposal to change parcel boundaries in the park to create the 81-acre project.
Hyde indicated that while the project isn't completely locked down, Genesee County is the frontrunner, well ahead of sites considered in Pennsylvania and even Livingston County.
"I think there’s a lot of excitement (about the project), not just in Genesee County, but across the region and the state. People recognize that the Finger Lakes and Western New York are primed for growth in food processing, a recession-proof industry, because people have to eat and our country continues to grow."
Photo: GCEDC's Mark Masse, VP of business development, shows site map plans for parcel changes to the agri-business park to members of the planning and zoning boards.
It's been the talk of the town for a couple of months -- a big food processing plant is being planned for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
The plant has been described as "O-AT-KA-sized" and could employ from 200 to 300 people.
Sources tell The Batavian it's now pretty much a done deal and more information should be coming out soon.
This is the second big-win for the GCEDC's agri-business park off of Route 5 in the Town of Batavia.
Last month, Colombia-based Alpina Products broke ground on a yogurt processing plant that will start out employing 50 people.
There's an item on the Town of Batavia's Planning Board agenda tonight that deals with further subdivision of the agri-park. We may find out more at this meeting.
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