Business

Photos by Shannon Dent.

Previously: Record-setting day for GLOW Corporate Cup

With 840 runners and walkers, 51 company teams and 42 corporate tents set up in Batavia's Centennial Park, the third year of the GLOW Corporate Cup proved to be the biggest yet.

The event, organized primarily by executives with the Merrill Lynch office in Batavia, will have raised more than $20,000 for the GLOW YMCA once receipts are tallied.

Batavia City Schools fielded the winning team and Corey Brown of Crickler Vending posted the race's fastest time at 17:42.

The organizers got a lot of positive feedback, said Joshua Dent, a VP with Merrill Lynch.

"If they're serious runners, the racers are very happy with the course Steve Tufts set up," Dent said. "It runs like a professional race. Then, unlike most races, there is this incredible after-party that makes it unique and different. The environment is fun. So we get the serious runners who are happy with the event, and then the businesses who participate and send walkers and then get to hang out after and listen to a band and they're satisfied as well. Those two aspect help make it a successful and unique event."

Dent looks forward to seeing the event grow, especially as the promoters work to attract more corporate teams from Orleans, Livingston and Wyoming counties.

It's gratifying to see the hard work of Tufts and John Ritter pay off in a big way for the GLOW YMCA, Dent said.

"It obviously means a lot to be able to give that much back to the community," Dent said. "The support of all the volunteers means so much. There's just an incredible amount of work that goes into putting this together. John Riter and Steve Tufts worked tirelessly to pull this off.

"It's not a one-day process. It's days and days and days. So to see the culmination, to see all the businesses that participate and do something that is fun and good for you and get the chance to hang out on a beautiful day and network, it clicked on all points."

• For individual race results, click here.
• For team results, click here.

UPDATE: Photos posted previously were from last year.

Top photo: City fire's team.

If you have photos to share, e-mail them this morning to howard@thebatavian.com

Upstate Toyota's team.

Three photos below, from Genesee Community College.

Photo from Elizabeth Downie

The Crickler Vending team. Photo submitted by Bob Brown.

Reader submitted, but company ID not included. Will try to update when we get it.

The smoke-gray, vinyl-sided building may not look like much now, but when Genesee County Chamber of Commerce officials gaze upon the vacant house converted into office space on Park Road, they see a spruced-up facade and a big sign that says "Visitors Center."

It's been a decades-long dream for the Chamber to relocate its headquarters and visitors bureau to space closer to the Thruway exit in the Park Road/Oak Street area.

Now plans are coming together to purchase this building on Park Road across from the Sheriff's Office and just south of the Clarion Hotel.

The building isn't as visible as something right at Park and Oak, but it will still be plenty visible to visitors passing through Genesee County, said Chamber President Tom Turnbull.

"The location is right in the middle of everything," Turnbull said. "There are 800 hotel rooms right in the area. There's the Clarion, Batavia Downs, Alex's, Applebee's. It's where we want to be. It's someplace where we can capture people as they come into the area and bring them into the county. That's what we've always wanted to do. That's been the dream to get there."

There's a sign outside the current chamber offices in the City Church building on East Main Street that says, "Visitors Center," but tourists rarely stop there. There's also the visitors hut in the parking lot of the Holland Land Office Museum, but with the median on Route 5 restricting traffic flow, it's hard to access and is seldom visited.

Turnbull thinks the proposed location on Park Road will get more tourist activity and help the tourism staff and volunteers do a better job of guiding people to the abundance of sightseeing opportunities locally, from HLOM, to Darien Lake, to the Jell-O Museum to Genesee County Park & Forest and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.

"We want to get people out into the county," Turnbull said.

Turnbull has heard from the critics, the people who are skeptical or concerned about chamber leaving Downtown.

We can do more for Main Street out there than we can down here," Turnbull said, adding, "The chamber itself might be better off here, but tourism isn't. While the chamber can be good out there, tourism can be great out there."

The location, at 8276 Park Road, was first spotted on Google Maps when a committee of chamber members were scouring the area for a potential location.

Turnbull admits that at first he didn't see the potential for the building.

"My vision isn't very good," Turnbull said. "I looked at it and said it's an ugly old house, but start talking to people and they say you can dress it up and put a nice facade on it."

Ed Smart has been hired to do a feasibility study and initial architectural drawings so officials can see just what can be done with the building.

Turnbull remembers the chamber talking about a project like this in 2000, when he was president of the Board of Directors, and in 2001, the chamber was about to purchase the former armory at Oak and Park, but then the 9/11 tragedy happened and the federal government decided it wanted to hold onto its buildings. The INS now occupies that space.

Then in 2007, the chamber and Town of Batavia started talking about a joint facility a little further west on Park Road, where Park turns south and Veterans Memorial Drive splits off to the west.

The plan was to open a joint court facility shared with Elba and Oakfield. But Elba and Oakfield backed out of the project as it neared the approval stage, so its languished since, which is what sent the chamber on a quest to find another potential location to fulfill its dreams.

The chamber has made a purchase offer that is contingent on the outcome of the study.

The plan is to tap into the $500,000-bed-tax reserve to pay for the tourism bureau's portion of the project. This is the kind of project the bed tax is meant to help fund, Turnbull said -- and County Manager Jay Gsell agrees -- and so the chamber will seek County Legislature approval for the expenditure of nearly all of the reserve.

The bed-tax money can only be used for the facade to promote tourism and the downstairs portion of the building that will be used as a visitors center. That is the bulk of the cost of the project.

But since this project is primarily about promoting tourism, Turnbull said he expects tourism revenue to fund some 70 to 80 percent of the total project. The chamber itself will pay for the balance and he said that balance is within the chamber's financial reach.

If the project goes through, the new visitor center could open in about a year.

Press release:

Foxprowl Collectables is celebrating being open five years at 440 Ellicott St. in the City of Batavia, this Saturday Aug. 8. Former Heavyweight Champion TNA Wrestler ERIC YOUNG will be at the store doing autographs and taking pictures with fans from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.!

Foxprowl Collectables opened against the odds during the recession and the state's Ellicott Street lane reduction project. But it has since created local jobs and grown into a
Batavia attraction for many out-of-town and out-of-state consumers.

The event "Foxprowl-Con" promises to bring high-profile attention to the city and the store, continuing the rapid growth of Foxprowl Collectables.

Saturday's event will include free hot dogs and sodas, giveaways and more. See you there!

Vinyl Sticks in Batavia finished a project for Mercy Flight today involving a retired helicopter that the Buffalo-based medical emergency organization wants to display at events and at its headquarters.

A BOCES class in Erie County restored and painted the exterior of the craft and then it was trucked to Batavia for Vinyl Sticks to apply the ship's decals.

Adam Lowder handled the project.

Their baby-back pork ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, Southern-style collard greens, and five-bean chuck-wagon beans were beloved by those who enjoyed the food. But the location of The Rib Shack on Ellicott Street Road proved too difficult, so the owners have pulled up stakes and are looking for a new location, said co-owner Melissa Penders.

The lack of a lunch crowd in an isolated location hurt cash flow, Penders said, but part of the decision to close was landlord due to difficulties.

The landlord is Rosemary Christian. Jim and Melissa Penders claim she illegally evicted them.

Melissa Penders said she will be happy to meet Christian in court because she has all the cancelled rent checks. She said Christian is claiming they owe "a ridiculous amount of money," but that all of the rent was paid.

Christian said she doesn't care what Penders has to show in court, the restaurant owners owed her money.

Over the weekend, all the signs came down and on Monday the Penders tried to remove the rest of their equipment, Penders said.  

Christian called the Sheriff's Office, Penders said, and Christian confirmed that local law enforcement responded.

"They were robbing me blind," Christian said.

Christian claims the building was left in "a mess." Penders said Christian wouldn't allow her inside the building to complete a final clean-up.

Penders said Christian was pushing them to sign a new lease, but they didn't want to commit to being in that location for another year, both because of the lunch-crowd issue and because she didn't want to deal with Christian for another year.

"Rosemary is very difficult to deal with," Penders said.

She said Christian presented them with an ultimatum to either sign a lease or get out, they chose to get out. As they were on their way out the door, Christian issued an eviction notice.

Christian said there was no demand to sign a lease or close. This was nothing but an eviction, she said.

Meanwhile, Jim and Melissa are looking for a new location and running their catering business out of their home, getting their kitchen upgraded to commercial and health department standards. All of their obligations for weddings and graduations and other events will be met, she said.

NOTE: Deal of the Day buyers, Melissa Penders said if you hold on to your gift certificates, they will be honored with the restaurant reopens. The expiration date will be honored. They are also good toward catering services. However, per The Batavian's policy, if you purchased your gift certificate within the past 30 days, we'll refund your money. Mail the gift certificate back to The Batavian, 200 E. Main St., #5, Batavia, NY 14020. If you elect to hold onto your gift certificate, e-mail howard@thebatavian.com and we'll send you a coupon code for a free ad posting on Batavia's List.

Adams Welding & Fabrication hosted a customer appreciate/grand opening/sign unveiling party today at its location in Stafford. Standing with the glistening stainless steel sign are Tim Adams and Steve Foster.

Below, the celebration cake designed to look like a welding machine.

(Kate Parmenter, Lori Steinbrenner and Julie Laurie)

Personal Preference Salon and Spa on Main Street in Le Roy held its 25 year anniversary customer appreciation celebration last night.

Family, friends, clients and even owner Lori Steinbrenner's cosmetology teacher came out to commemorate the accomplishment.

Steinbrenner and her three other stylists, Julie Laurie, Linda White and Kate Parmenter serve clients old and young. The salon offers hair styling and coloring services, manicures, pedicures and waxing.

“I love what I do so it’s not a job,” Steinbrenner said. “My goal is to form personal connections with my clients and make them feel comfortable.”

Steinbrenner has been working as a hair stylist for 34 years. She has lived in Le Roy her entire life and couldn’t imagine having her business anywhere else. Before owning her own salon, she worked for nine years at the same location on Main Street when it was formerly called Bev’s Beauty Shop. Steinbrenner purchased the salon in 1990 and renamed it Personal Preference.

“Le Roy is a warm, cozy and inviting community,” Steinbrenner said. “I plan on staying in business for many more years.”

In the future, Steinbrenner is looking to expand and offer massages and facials.

(Lori Steinbrenner with her family)

Tomorrow is Don Burkel's last day as the executive director of the Batavia Business Improvement District.

Burkel just has to tidy up his desk before he passes the torch to incoming director Laurie Oltramari.

Burkel was the first director of the BID and has been leading the not-for-profit organization for almost 17 years. He has witnessed Downtown Batavia undergo many changes.

"When I started as the director, there was a variety of retail businesses in the city," Burkel said. "Now there are fewer businesses and properties are harder to fill with retail."

Although there has been a decline in the number of businesses, Burkel has overseen many positive changes as well. Some of his favorite projects include the transformation of buildings on Main Street and Jackson Street.

"I will miss working with the people of Downtown Batavia and seeing various projects completed," Burkel said.

Burkel believes people should focus on the positive aspects of Downtown Batavia and all of the potential small business opportunities it has to offer. In the future, he foresees development of the old Carr building and the construction of a boutique hotel. He also predicts more pop-up businesses will come to Downtown.

"I want to thank everyone Downtown for supporting me," Burkel said. "I know the BID's Board of Directors and committees will continue to further the vision for Downtown Batavia. I look forward to their accomplishments in the future and as I always say 'Shop Downtown!' "

To kick off his retirement, he is traveling to Maine with his wife to do some kayaking. He also plans to continue his photography and expand his collection.

A large screen TV reportedly fell into a wave pool at Darien Lake Theme Park earlier this afternoon and injured a 7-year-old boy. He suffered a cut on his leg.  

Darien Lake issued the following statement about the incident:

Darien Lake confirms that today at 12:30 p.m., the outdoor movie screen set up for Darien Lake’s “Dive-In Movie” series fell into the park’s wave pool.

The screen was installed at the deep end of the wave pool this morning, in the same location and with the same installation contractor and process used for previous Dive-In Movie nights. The cause of today’s incident is currently under investigation.

Darien Lake’s emergency medical personnel were on scene within minutes and treated three guests who received minor injuries. The park’s maintenance crew removed the screen and reopened the wave pool within one hour of the incident.

Tomorrow night’s Dive-In Movie, "Finding Nemo," will proceed as planned. We will work with our contractors to reinstall the screen with extra precautions to ensure this situation does not happen again.

- Chris Thorpe, General Manager, Darien Lake

Photo from our news partner 13WHAM.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement after introducing the Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act, which will reduce excessive regulations hurting small businesses.

“Small business is the economic engine that drives our economy,” Congressman Collins said. “To unleash the good-paying job opportunities and economic benefits small businesses provide for Western New York, we need to reduce burdensome regulations. This common-sense legislation eliminates duplicative regulations, while incentivizing agencies to eliminate rules that hurt small businesses.”

This legislation is the companion bill to S. 846, which was originally introduced by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL).

“Small business is the engine of the American economy, and it is clear that the burden current regulations are placing on business owners is disadvantaging new innovations,” Senator Kirk said. “The Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act will help correct this problem for small businesses across the country so that they can focus on product creation instead of compliance.”

The Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015 aims to address the lack of accountability federal agencies face under current law. Federal agencies currently must review rules that have a significant economic impact on small businesses, but there is no current enforcement mechanism to ensure that. This legislation works to correct that by:

·         Adding several critical factors that agencies must consider when promulgating a rule, including the complexity of the rule, complaints from small businesses, Small Business Administration comments, and the continued need for the rule.

·         Implementing an enforcement mechanism: if an agency does not properly perform the required reviews as determined by the agency’s Inspector General, the agency would face a 1-percent cut in funds appropriated for the agency’s salaries.

·         Introducing an automatic sunset provision for new covered rules. Seven years after a final rule is published, it will automatically expire, unless an agency takes action to renew the rule through the existing rule-making process.

Le Roy salon owner expanded her one-woman hair salon into a full-service salon to meet the demands of her growing business.

Nanette Chiulli, owner of Nanette's Hair & Now, had always dreamed of owning a hair salon and made her dream a reality when she opened her small salon on Mill Street in Le Roy in March 2013. In less than two years, Chiulli's business became a success and she was looking to move into a larger location so she could offer her clients more services.

Chiulli didn't think she would find a location for her hair salon in Le Roy until Amy Whitmore-McClellan, former owner of Hot Heads Salon, asked if she would be interested in taking over the salon six months ago. After some thought, she decided to take Whitmore-McClellan on her offer and started the process. 

With the help of family and friends, Chiulli moved to 25 W. Main St. in Le Roy and remodeled the salon to fit her style. Her stepfather, Paul Walton, built the styling stations and her brother-in-law, Tom Sherman, built a coloring table. For a finishing touch, her favorite quote from C.S. Lewis hangs on the wall "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

"My goal is to have a professional fun environment," Chiulli said. "I want my clients to feel comfortable. They love the bright lighting and the openness of the salon." 

In addition to offering hair styling and coloring treatments, she now has room to offer nail and waxing services. Chiulli also asked Whitmore-McClellan and her assistant Kelley Brackett to continue working at the salon. The salon has been open at the new location for about three weeks now.

Keeping up with the latest hair styles and coloring techniques is important to her. She takes styling classes regularly at Goldwell, a salon products distributor and education center, in Rochester. She also took a DevaCurl class in New York City to learn different techniques on how to cut and style curly hair.

"I like making clients feel good and giving them a change," Chiulli said. "It never gets old when I get a message from a client saying they love their hair."

Chiulli has been working as a stylist for 25 years. Before owning her hair salon, she worked at variety of salons including Shear Ego Salon and Spa in Rochester and Personal Preference Salon and Spa in Le Roy. In addition to her local clientele, she gets clients from Rochester and Geneseo, where she currently lives. She plans on continuing to grow her business in Le Roy because it's a central location for her clients.

In the future, Chiulli hopes to turn one of the salon's back rooms into a spa and offer massages.

Kelly Chamberlain and Luanne Burns, 1979 graduates of Batavia High School, have patented a new product called the Speakbubble.

Chamberlain, a 21-year Navy veteran said, “I thought of the idea two years while driving on the highway, I saw magnets and bumper stickers on cars. I do not like bumper stickers because they are difficult to remove and thought about something that could be used to write a message, that could be changed daily or whenever the user wished.”

He further developed the idea and went to the patent office in 2013, completed the lengthy patent application process and was granted the patent for the Magnetic Speakbubble.

Chamberlain describes the Speakbubble as “a dry erase magnet that could be used in your home, office or as a Twitter for your car." It comes with a dry erase marker and allows you to create customized messages for not only the car, but for the refrigerator, lockers, office equipment, and anything magnetic.

After completion of the patent process, colleague LuAnne Burns designed the Web site for the product, which is www.myspeakbubble.com. The product is made in the United States, retails for $15.99 and is not currently available in stores.

Chamberlain and Burns are offering a 20-percent discount on their product for Genesee County residents by using the Promo code “WNY” when ordering on the Web site. In addition, the Speakbubble can be used as a fundraiser or a promotional product for organizations, sports teams, or businesses.

Photo: Kelly Chamberlain and LuAnne Burns.

Press release:
The Ellicottville Brewing Company will be visiting Downtown Batavia on Thursday, July 30th, to receive its Beertavia plaque for the “2015 Western New York’s Brew of the Year” for its Blueberry Wheat Beer, which won the best brew at the Beertavia event held on May 16th by the Batavia Business Improvement District (BID).

Ellicottville Brewing Company wanted to receive their award in person and will be at Angotti’s Beers of the World on Jackson Street at 11 a.m. this Thursday.

The inaugural Beertavia was a tremendous success with more than 14 craft brewers in attendance. The goal was to not only bring another event to the Downtown, but also to highlight the advantage of having a brewery in Downtown Batavia.

“Two breweries have been looking at spaces Downtown,” said Laurie Oltramari, the incoming executive director of the BID. “The Batavia Business Improvement District has always strived to provide businesses, new and existing, with opportunities to grow and succeed.”

“Shop Local, Shop Downtown.” Sponsored by: Batavia Business Improvement District. For more info contact the B.I.D. Office at 585-344-0900 / visit us at www.DowntownBataviaNY.com. or like us on Facebook at DowntownBataviaBusinessImprovementDistrict.

(Pete and Anupa Hirani)

Locals can now buy a cup of frozen yogurt and a few household items at the new Jackson Express Mini-Mart.

Owners Pete and Anupa Hirani decided to expand YoTwisters, the former frozen yogurt shop, into a mini-mart to keep customers coming back in the winter. The frozen yogurt shop could not bring in enough business this winter, forcing them to close during the month of December. 

Since then, Pete and Anupa Hirani expanded the business, renamed it and reopened on July 4.

In addition to the frozen yogurt bar, the mini-mart is stocked with snacks, soda and soft-serve ice cream. They also offer a variety of grocery and cleaning items like sugar, coffee and toilet paper. They will be selling cigarettes and lottery tickets soon.

Anupa Hirani has experience managing convenient stores and is excited to grow her family's business. Her goal is to have customers stop in for frozen yogurt or ice cream and pick up a few grocery items as well. 

"Customers can enjoy a cup of frozen yogurt and buy a few household items they need all in one place without having to wait in a long line at the grocery store," Anupa Hirani said.

In the next couple of months, they plan to use the full kitchen in the back to serve a variety of hot food. Before opening YoTwisters, they owned Salsa & Curry, a restaurant offering Indian and Mexican cuisine. They are looking into bringing back some of their old customers favorite dishes as well as pizza and wings.

The unemployment rate for Genesee County hit a 100-month low for June, according to Department of Labor statistics.

The rate fell to 4.5 percent. The last time the rate was that low or lower was October 2007, when the rate stood at 4.2 percent.

The lowest rate of that year was 3.8 percent in August and in May.

A year ago, the June rate was 4.8 percent. It was 4.7 percent this May.

For June, there were 24,300 non-farm jobs in Genesee County, down from 24,600 in June 2015.  That June number is still the highest it's been so far in 2015, and with exception of last June, the highest it's been since July 2010.

Unemployment in Wyoming County is 4.9 percent, it's 6.1 in Orleans, and 5.3 in Livingston. In the Buffalo area, it's 5.3 percent and in the Rochester region, it's 5.1.