Business

The Haskell Company, general contractor on Project Wave, and PepsiCo both pledged today to hire, whenever possible, local subcontractors, and say they've been following that practice from the beginning.

In fact, both companies say they have a non-binding agreement with the Genesee County Economic Development Center to hire local workers.

Union representatives from Rochester held a press conference today outside the building site at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and insisted that Haskell is not awarding enough contracts to builders from Western New York.

Dave Young, president of the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as business manager of IBEW Local 86, told reporters to just walk through the parking lot (if allowed) and check license plates on the trucks pulled up behind the construction trailers.

"Pepsi has hired an out-of-state general contractor who is bringing up employees from Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia," Young said. "They're bringing them from everywhere but right in here New York State."

Young made his remarks flanked by union members -- Young said he represents 15,000 workers, 15 percent of whom are out of work -- and in front of a backdrop of earth movers grading the construction site.

The earth movers are owned and operated by Zoladz Construction, based in Alden.

Young (pictured) said the one solid piece of evidence his group has is a video he and some colleagues produced yesterday during their walk-through of the construction site parking lot.

When pressed to name out-of-state contractors who have been awarded contracts, Young named one, an electrical contractor out of Kentucky, but said he couldn't remember the names of the others.

He said the bid process for construction work such as this lacks transparency, which makes it hard to know for sure who is being hired for what jobs.

Yesterday, Steve Hyde told The Batavian that 50 percent of the contracts for the project have been awarded and 80 percent of those have gone to Western New York contractors.

Dave Balz, a VP with Haskell, said he didn't have the information in front of him to be able to confirm Hyde's numbers, but said Haskell is firmly committed to hiring local labor on all of its projects.

"In my experience, every community is concerned about the local work force and the local workers," Balz said. "We respect that concern. Local contractors with a good safety record are always welcome to bid on our projects."

Haskell signed a non-binding agreement with GCEDC to hire qualified subcontractors from the local area (which covers Genesee County as well as the surrounding counties), Balz said.

According to Scott Gilmore, a spokesman for Pepsi, the company signed a "local labor pledge" with GCEDC.

"Our pledge is to use a fair and competitive selection process for the construction of the new manufacturing facility, with a view to using as many New York State and local subcontractors and suppliers as reasonable," Gilmore said in a statement.

"As with any pledge of this nature, it is not legally binding, but it is a reflection of the goals and standards we seek to maintain as we proceed with development of the state-of-the-art dairy and yogurt production facility in Batavia, New York."

Gilmore also wrote, "We are committed to providing a measurable, positive impact to the Upstate local community and surrounding areas through the use of available, competitive local labor as we construct a state-of-the-art dairy and yogurt production facility in Batavia, New York."

Among Young's request is that GCEDC create a local labor requirement in its contacts with businesses, saying that the Monroe County IDA has such a requirement in its contracts.

The Batavian spoke briefly with a spokeswoman for COMIDA who said at first the claim was true, but when asked if such agreements were binding, she said she would need to double check. We've not yet heard back from her.

As for the video presented by the union, Balz said he would let it speak for itself, adding, "We are still early in a very long-term project to build a state-of-the-art yogurt plant. As things proceed on site, we intend and will take action on our pledge to do our very best to include local participation."

Previously: Union officials making waves over alleged out-of-state hiring practices of Wave Holding

Two giant multinational companies received millions in taxpayer subsidies to launch "Project Wave" in Batavia on the promise of creating local jobs and stimulating the local economy, but so far, according to Dave Young, it's not happening.

Steve Hyde, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, disputed Young's claims saying that Wave Holding has made a committment to hire a majority of local construction workers and that as of last week, 50 percent of the contracts had been awarded with 80 percent going to local firms.

Young is a union man -- president of the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as business manager of IBEW Local 86 -- and he will hold a press conference at 10 a.m., Friday, at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park to try to draw attention to the number of out-of-state workers being employed by Wave Holding, LLC.

"There are a lot of construction workers in our area who are out of work," Young said. "This isn't a union or non-union issue. It's a community issue."

Young and Anna Dumont, executive director, Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, released a pair of videos Dumont said were shot this morning at the job site of Project Wave showing numerous out-of-state license plates on what they say are the cars of construction workers employed by building contractor Haskell and its subcontractors.

We received no reply to an email this afternoon to PepsiCo asking for comment on the situation.

Pepsi along with Germany-based Theo Muller Group formed Wave Holding to introduce a new Greek-style yogurt product to the United States and are spending more than $206 million to build a 363,000-square-foot facility.

The plant will initially employ nearly 200 people and could eventually employ as many as 600 people.

Wave Holding received more than $11 million in tax abatements for the project and the GCEDC has been able to channel millions more into building the ag park and ensuring the park has sufficient infrastructure to support operations there.

Young suggested GCEDC should adopt rules similar to those he claims are already in place in Monroe County -- if you get tax breaks for your project, you need to hire local workers.

"That's true of all IDA subsidized projects in Monroe County," Young said. "Some go union and some go non-union, but either way people in our community get to go to work every day. They earn paychecks that support their families. This is truly a community issue."

Hyde, who answered a couple of questions even though he's out of town on vacation, said the GCEDC supports local labor.

"We have done everything we can to encourage local labor and are a huge fan and advocate of local labor," Hyde said. "We have done so with Wave many times."

Young claimed the unemployment rate among construction workers in Western New York is about double the rate of the rest of the work force.

The problem with out-of-state workers (and Young thinks some of the workers at the site aren't even U.S. residents) is that they send their wages back home rather than spend the money here.

Studies, he said, put the multiplier effect of locally based construction work at three to seven times the worker's wages.

"They're paying taxes, going to local stores, getting things fixed locally, sending their kids to local schools and colleges," Young said.

Young said he hopes public attention on the matter will get Haskell to hire more local workers.

Meanwhile, throughout the construction of the Alpina yogurt plant, the parking lot -- including today -- has been consistently filled with vehicles with New York license plates.

This is the fifth story in a six-part series about the 2011 winners of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce awards.

As much as a good idea and toil played a role in growing Baskin Livestock from a company with four employees into one with 40, the word serendipity can't be left out of any story about Bill Baskin and Susan Blackburn.

The couple met because work brought them together.

The farm Baskin ran in Rhode Island forced him to find creative ways to feed his 700 head of cattle. The feed he used opened up a business opportunity in Western New York. The farm they bought in Batavia -- perfectly suited for their business, but not for dairy operations -- came available at the right time through a bank foreclosure. The location proved critically centered to a host of vendors and customers.

A combination of a business acumen and a bit of serendipity proved to be the right mix and today, Baskin Livestock is one of Genesee County's most successful ag businesses. It is, in fact, the Agriculture Business of the Year, according to the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

"It’s a great ag community with a lot of businesses that are more sophisticated and successful than we are," Baskin said. "I’m flattered to be considered in that group. It’s just, it’s humbling … just wow! It's a great feather in our cap."

Baskin grew up in Massachusetts with a father he describes as a "frustrated farmer." He ran a small farm and a owned a tire and fuel business. After college, Baskin moved to the Midwest where he worked as a hog buyer and later exported livestock.

When he returned to the East Coast, he took over 70 acres of rocky farmland -- pasture but no tillable soil to grow feed -- and ran 700 head of cattle.

"All you could see was rocks," Baskin said.

Blackburn was a Pennsylvania farm girl whose life goal was to be a veterinarian and work with cows and horses.

When she was offered a job in Rhode Island as the state vet, she took it.

"The problem was, I was working 110 hours a week and here was an opportunity for a state job that was 45 hours a week and a couple thousand dollars more in salary," Blackburn said.

Once in Pennsylvania, part of Blackburn's job was to travel to the state's farms and administer tuberculosis test on import/export cows.

The test requires injecting the cows on day one and checking the results on day three, and with as many cows as Baskin was bringing in and sending out, Blackburn was visiting the farm three and four days a week.

Working that close together gave them plenty of opportunity to get to know each other.

"We were friends way before we were married, and we stil are, that’s the amazing part," Blackburn said.

To feed his cattle, Blackburn contracted with a man who would drive a small truck to the McDonald's muffin and biscuit factory, collect all their day-olds and mistakes and deliver it to Baskin, who would convert it into feed.

"It was a hard job," Baskin said. "He had a small truck and he went in and loaded it all by hand. One day he got mad and he said, 'I only got one truck and it's hard work and blah, blah, blah. I'm going to quit.' I said, 'Well, Johnny, you might be wealthy enough and old enough to retire, but I'm not.' "

So Baskin got his own truck and driver and found a large bagel factory with waste to recycle into feed.

The manager of that factory was then moved to the company's West Seneca plant, which didn't have a good waste-recycling operation.

So he contacted Baskin, who arranged to start a business in Western New York that would be run by a friend's brother.

Once the contracts were signed and the equipment bought, the would-be employee backed out.

"I told her, somebody has got to go take care of this thing and one thing led to another," Baskin said.

Once the couple bought the farm on Creek Road in Batavia, they were able to build facilities that could accommodate recycling tons of bakery waste into feed, with 40 or 50 truck trips a day of waste coming in and feed going out.

Baskin Livestock collects waste from more than 40 bakeries and ships out to feed companies all within about a 400-mile radius of Batavia.

According to Baskin, the amount of feed the facility produces annually replaces the need for about 16,000 acres of corn.

The process involves taking waste bakery products -- it might be a poorly mixed batch, or returns, or just factory rejects (Lay's Potato Chips rejects any bag that is as much as one chip too heavy or one chip too light).

The waste is dumped into a giant warehouse -- twice the size of a football field -- with a floor 10-feet below ground level. The wet material (uncooked dough, typically) needs to be dried out. The product is then all mixed together, dried further, churned and chopped and then moved to the loading dock for shipment to feed mills, which sell it to farmers.

The timing of pick up and delivery is critical, Baskin said.

"You don't show up when you're supposed to show up and they get backed up, you could potentially shut down a plant with 300 or 400 employees," Baskin said.

To keep his trucks running, Baskin runs his own repair and machine shop, with workers doing basic maintenance on trucks and heavy repairs.

The farm -- originally 874 acres, now more than 1,700 -- also runs 995 head of cattle locally, plus as many as 5,000 more at other locations. The cattle are raised as replacement heifers or meat cattle available locally or for export to places such as Turkey, Russia and Mexico.

Blackburn thinks the business her husband has been able to build is pretty amazing.

Often, Blackburn said, when people find out she's a vet, the common response is, "I've always wanted to be a veterinarian.

"Well, how many times have you heard that," she added. "But I say to them, anybody who can read and has great retention and pays attention can be a veterinarian. But what my husband does, not very many people can do, because he has it all just come out of his head."

A lot of the credit, Baskin said, goes to his employees, who all know their jobs very well.

"The other thing I preach is that I can be here working with you 12, 15 hours a day, side by side, but in 15 years, we're not going to have any business," Baskin said. " I need to be out growing the business and I'm depending on you guys to do the work."

The feed mill is in operation non-stop from 9:30 Monday morning to 9:30 Friday night.

If a business isn't growing, Baskin said, it's shrinking. It's never staying the same, so he's always looking for new opportunities and ways to grow.

Three years ago, they added 20,000 square feet of office space and this summer, they'll add another 5,000 square feet.

Customer service is the name of the game, Baskin said. He lives by and teaches his employees, "The customer is always right."

He prides himself on fixing problems and being able to get along with people others might find difficult.

It's a trait, he said, he picked up while working for his father.

"I fixed all my father's problems," Baskin said. "My old man'd get in a business deal, somebody get pissed off at him. I’d go fix it. I’d go talk to them. I’d go smooth it over. I’d go talk them into ... whatever."

These days, Blackburn doesn't do much vet work -- some here and there -- she's busy helping Bill with his business. She said he's the big-picture guy and she handles a lot of the details.

"Being a veterinarian is a great job, but I like helping my husband out more than I like the ego gratification of going in and telling somebody about heartworm medicine," Blackburn said.

Bill and Susan have a 17-year-old daughter who may some day join the family business, but Bill wants her to experience a little more of life first -- go to college, work for somebody else, see the world from a different perspective.

"I told her, you’ve got to want it," Baskin said. "If you want it, fine, I’ll show you everything. I’m not going to force you to do this."

To be successful in farming, Baskin said, you've got to love it.

He recalled being there for a family gathering during his first marriage and going into the bathroom to wash up for dinner a minute after his brother-in-law had done the same.

"I'm in there and he comes flying in, 'my watch, my watch, my watch,' and I said, 'what's the big deal about your watch?'

"He was a computer engineer for Hewlett Packard, big money in those days. He said, 'In my office, I don't have a clock. If I don't have my watch, I don't know what time it is. If I've got to sit there a minute past four o'clock that just makes me bananas.' He says, 'At four o'clock, I'm going home.'

"So I told my wife at the time, I said, 'You know, you don't like my work. You don't like the smell, you don't like the dirt and you don't like the people and you don't like the cows, but if I had to have a job where I just prayed for four o'clock coming, regardless of what I'm getting paid, it ain't worth it in my opinion.'

"I like the people," Baskin concluded. "I like the dirt. I like the cow business."

Baskin loves it, but he also knows serendipity played a role in what he's achieved in business and at home.

"I was lucky to find her (Susan), lucky to find this place, lucky to find a few opportunities along the way," Baskin said.

"I have no regrets," he added. "I've made a lot of friends, had a lot of fun. If you do what you like and have good people around you, and you're able to go home to a couple of people who love you. Life is good."

This Sunday, O'Lacy's Irish Pub celebrates 15 years in business.

The location of O'Lacy's on School Street was the Darien Knitting Mill Outlet and Nancy Bachulak and Kent Ewell originally planned to convert the space into an office building, but after a visit to Rhode Island on St. Patrick's Day in 1996, Bachulak and Ewell decided to raze the existing building and build an authentic Irish pub.

Ewell said he's proud of the fact that no public funds were used in the purchase or construction of the building.

Pub stands for public house, and like the pubs of Europe and the British Isles, O'Lacy's has become a popular downtown gathering place for people from all over Genesee County and beyond.

O'Lacy's has won awards for its Guinness pours and is famous for its Reuben sandwich and homemade potato chips and dip.

Ewell and Bachulak have also supported numerous local charitable causes and events over the past 15 years, including the Michael Napoleon Foundation, UMMC and the Crossroads House.

The celebration will take place throughout the day Sunday.

Press release:

Batavia Downs Casino generated more than $16.99 million for education during the 2011 fiscal year (April 2011 to March 2012), according to the recently released data by the Division of Lottery. As part of Batavia Downs Casino’s ongoing support of New York education, 51 percent of Batavia Downs Casino's net win is given to the lottery to fund education.

“We’re proud to have contributed so much to New York State’s educational efforts,“ said Mike Kane, president of Batavia Downs Casino.

In 2011-2012, revenue generated by Batavia Downs Casino for education was equivalent to the annual salaries of approximately 245 teachers. With education budgets consistently tightening, this revenue will allow for students throughout New York State to continue to earn a high-quality public education. Since opening in 2005, Batavia Downs Casino has generated more than $115 million in education funding for New York.

More information on Batavia Downs Casino is available at www.bataviadownscasino.com and the full lottery report is available at www.nylottery.ny.gov.

Batavia Downs Casino is owned and operated by Western Regional Off-Track Betting, a public benefit corporation. Batavia Downs Casino is a member of the New York Gaming Association. The New York Gaming Association advocates for, and advances the interests of, the state’s nine racetrack casinos, located at harness and thoroughbred racing venues in all four corners of New York.

The association works in partnership with state government on long-term strategies to financially bolster education, create jobs, support agriculture, horseracing and breeding; and maximize economic revenues to the state that will benefit all New Yorkers.

Masse Gateway -- a redevelopment project partially funded by NYS grants -- has its second tenant.

Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management is building a new office -- that someday could employ 18 people -- in one of the former tractor factory buildings.

Martin G. Anderson, a director out of the Buffalo office, said Merrill Lynch has had its eye on Batavia for five years and those long-range plans are just coming to fruition.

"We know our clients in Batavia do not want to drive to Buffalo or Rochester to do business," Anderson said.

The office will initially open with 11 employees, including some brokers who were once with the old Smith Barney office in Batavia and jump shipped years ago to Merrill Lynch.

"This is going to be a bit of a homecoming for them," Anderson said.

Among them is Joshua Dent, a Bethany native who will manage the new office.

Previously, local business Creamy Creations announced it was moving to Masse Gateway.

There is 60,000 square feet available in the redevelopment project.

Merrill Lynch anticipates opening the office Aug. 1.

Top photo: Anderson and Dent with Julie Pacette, community development coordinator and Tom Mancuso, owner of Masse Gateway. Bottom photo, Mancuso, Dent and Anderson with City Manager Jason Molino during a meeting with the local media.

It was graduation day for Batavia Enclosures at the Batavia Industrial Center this morning.

The 24-year-old company is moving to its own 27,000-square-foot building, which will help better meet the needs of the growing enterprise.

Leonard Roberto founded the Batavia Enclosures in 1988 with only $6,000 in the bank.

"We didn’t have a name, no company, no product," Roberto said. "I just believed it was something I wanted do, so I quit my job and came here to Batavia and rented 4,000 square feet. I had no equipment and no customers. That’s how we started. My faith was that it would happen and it did happen."

Batavia Enclosures makes precision-engineered cases and racks for electronic companies. The additional space will allow it to introduce new manufacturing processes, including powder coating.

Roberto said the firm, which now has four employees, will likely add four or five workers with the expansion.

Meanwhile, he and his sons have started a second business called Savage IO, which manufactures a server -- a computer that stores and serves data to other computers over a network. That's where the big opportunity lies -- in the server industry -- which he says is currently the fastest-growing industry in the world.

Savage IO is potentially a multi-multi-million dollar company, Roberto said, and much of the space of the new building is intended to accommodate growth.

BIC President Tom Mancuso presented Roberto with a certificate of graduation in a ceremony at Moonjava Cafe in the Harvester Center and congratulated Roberto on his company's growth.

Roberto thanked Bank of Castile for facilitating the purchase of the new building.

The Easter Bunny is downtown today, hanging out outside the Enchanted Florist on East Main Street.

The move from San Diego to Le Roy has been a good one for David Luetticke and Greg Luetticke.

More than four years ago, they bought the Frost Ridge Campground and have been slowly making improvements, all the while, feeling they made the right choice in moving to Genesee County.

"I think it's beautiful," Greg said. "I like the people, the scenery, the change of seasons. It's everything I wanted."

While David and Greg have made changes in the campground -- upgrading infrastructure, adding an annual pumpkin patch and a summertime slippery slide on one of the hills, for example -- the biggest change has been booking more than a half-dozen big-name music acts into their outdoor amphitheater.

The summer concert season kicks off June 9 with one of the biggest names in country music, Aaron Tippin.

The line up (all shows and dates -- and tickets purchased -- can be found on frostridge.com) includes the Little River Band, Restless Heart, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blackberry Smoke, James Wesley and Connie Smith.

It's the third year of concerts -- one of the highlights last summer was Marty Stuart -- and besides the seven name acts coming to Frost Ridge, 45 bands from throughout Western New York will perform there is summer.

Greg admitted he never heard of Blackberry Smoke before (neither had I, videos embedded below), but he said it's been the fastest selling show so far and after selling out of VIP tickets, they pulled back the promo VIP tickets given to radio stations and have just six left to offer to the public.

The current arrangement of the amphitheater accommodates 5,000 people, but three's a high hill behind the seating area and maybe, just maybe, that offers some expansion room. The sound of the music on the hill is every bit as good as down lower, Greg and David agreed.

As Greg and David get settled into Le Roy, they're getting more involved in the community. For a couple of years now, Frost Ridge has hosted a fundraiser for the Le Roy Volunteer Fire Department.  This year, some of the proceeds of the Aaron Tippin concert will be donated to the VA facility in Batavia.

"We see it as good business when when you're involved in the community and everybody supports one another, and that's how we would like to live our lives," David said.

I'm looking forward to the The Dirt Band in August.

Rose Mary Christian thought she would be retired these days, but she can't quite get away from the restaurant business.

She admits, she loves it.

In 1956, her father -- with the help of Carl Dilcher and George Jacobs -- built a diner on Ellicott Street Road near Shepard and Christian. Along with her eight brothers and sisters, she worked there for much of her young life.

The diner closed in 1965, but Christian opened it again -- with her four children -- in 1983.

"We used to have good times and you hear people reminisce about the old days," Christian said. "Hot dogs were 25 cents when my dad started and milk shakes were 50 cents. Now what’s a hot dog and what’s a milk shake? There’s a big difference."

Christian closed the diner in 2003, and then new owners took it over for a time more than a year ago, but eight months ago, that diner closed.

On Monday, the diner opens again as "Rosie's."

"I hope people drive out and see the restaurant and taste what we have to offer," Christian said. "I hope they just have a good day and a good experience coming here. Like I said, this is where good people meet."

The diner's menu, among regular diner fare, will include Italian and Polish dishes and homemade soup.

“We’re going to have a quarter-pound hot dog, like they have in New York City, that I love," Christian said. "It’s going to have mustard and sauerkraut on it. It’s delicious. You’ll have to try it."

Christian noted there aren't many dining establishments on the southeast side of town, plus there will likely be a road connecting the new ag park to Cedar Street, making it easier for workers there to get onto Ellicott Street. That could be the opening in the market she needs to be successful.

Asked if not just her history in the restaurant business, but her career in city politics would help attract customers to Rosie's, Christian laughed.

"The politics part of it," she said, "no, not at all."

Lei-Ti Campground on Francis Road, Bethany, was voted by users of the Woodall's Campground Directory, as one of the top 100 campgrounds in the United States.

There are 1,700 campgrounds in the U.S.

Woodall's is a popular and widely used campground directory, owned by Affinity Group, based in Ventura, Calif.

There were reportedly hundreds of thousands of votes cast over the 10-month long contest, according to Woodall's, which was also a sweepstakes for a chance to win a seven-day cruise to Hawaii.

Photo: John Hollwendel, owner of Lei-Ti.

In honor of March being Disabilities Awareness Month, the Batavia Development Corp. organized an event at Coffee Culture today recognizing people involved in the local disabilities work force.

Certificates were given to both workers and staff members at local agencies who supervise people with disabilities.

Receiving certificates were:

• Darren Annovi, store associate, Kmart, three years: Darren is an active member of Mental Health Association of Genesee County and works at Darien Lake in the summer.
• Greg Bruggman, laborer, ARC, six years: Greg is on the governing council of ILGR and strives to help others with disabilities through ILGR and political meetings.
• Vinnie Falcone, work center, Genco Industries, six years: Vinnie is active in his church, volunteers at the Social Club and en- joys watercolor painting.
• Philip Greene, crew member, Burger King, nine years: Philip has maintained employment for nine years and participates in his church regularly.
• George Hughes, work center, Genco Industries, 38 years: George has been recognized as “Employee of the Month,” volunteers at community events and he assists at Clor’s Meat Market.
• Dawn Kempf, housekeeper, Best Western, 20+ years: Dawn has been employed for more than two decades and she volunteers at MHA of Genesee County Warm Line.
• Richard Ruhlman, janitor, Batavia Downs, four years: Richard actively participates in high school sports events as timekeeper, statistical keeper and more.
• Leigh Skellon, associate, TOPS Market, 14 years: Leigh assists the shoppers when needed and is considered a dedicated and reliable employee.
• Ann Bird, instructor NYS School for the Blind, 28 years: Ann is an innovative classroom instructor. She has led instructional support staff, interacts with school districts across the state and provides professional development and support to those who are working with students who are blind and have multiple disabilities.
• Donna Ostrander, production assistant Genesee ARC, six years: Donna is an organized, efficient and supportive team member that is always willing to help. She treats all individuals with respect and compassion. Donna volunteers many hours at agency functions.
• Katherine Way, senior employment specialist Restoration Society Inc./Genesee ACE, four years: Katherine actively works with coworkers and customers to promote community involvement and she is an Angels in Action Advisory Council member. Katherine is also attending college part-time.

Julie Pacette indicated the BDC hopes to make this an annual event.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center is pleased to announce that it has received $500,000 in NYS Economic Development funding. Five years ago, United Memorial began a multi-phased project to rehabilitate the former St. Jerome Hospital building, which is located at 16 Bank Street in the heart of Downtown Batavia.

The first phase renovated the ground floor to create an outpatient diagnostic center along with offices for primary care and occupational medicine services. The second phase addressed the upper floors and created 37 housing units for seniors 55 years of age or older earning less than 50 percent of the area median income. Several of the units contain features to assist those with mobility, hearing or visual impairments.

At the beginning of the second phase of the project, New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Senator Mary Lou Rath and then County Legislator Mike Ranzenhofer announced $500,000 in NYS Economic Development Assistance funding to assist with the redevelopment.

At that time, United Memorial’s President and CEO Mark C. Schoell stated, “The support from the State Senate will help us reinvigorate an important area of Downtown Batavia and re-purpose a vacant structure so that it once again serves the residents of Genesee County by providing the necessary elements of employment, housing and access to health care.” 

The adaptive reuse of the building was completed in November 2010; however the NYS Economic Development Assistance funding had not been received. United Memorial solicited help from the 61^st District, New York State Senator Mike Ranzenhofer’s office.

“Senator Ranzenhofer has been diligent in assisting the hospital access the funds promised in 2008,” Schoell said. “The Jerome Center Project is an exemplary illustration of cooperation between government and the private sector to preserve an historic property and provide important services to the community. We greatly appreciate Senator Ranzenhofer’s dedication and commitment to healthcare, housing for our vulnerable population and economic growth.”

Senator Ranzenhofer said "Mark and I have been working closely together for many months to ensure that United Memorial received the funding it had been promised in 2008 for the Jerome Center Project. As a result of our collaborative efforts, we were able to push the funding part of this project across the finish line.

"The Jerome Center Project has had a positive impact -- particularly, the many jobs it has created and the services the site now offers to the community. I hope that the project serves as a paradigm to encourage both organizations and individuals in the community to contact me when encountering a state-related issue."

The Jerome Center currently houses a comprehensive diagnostic center offering medical imaging and laboratory specimen collection; the Corporate Health Center for occupational medicine services; Batavia Family and Pediatric Care; Surgical Associates; Hope Haven, the only secure inpatient chemical dependency rehabilitation unit in the GLOW region; and the fully occupied Jerome Senior Apartments.

The site also hosts a gift shop, refreshment kiosk and cafeteria. Next month an Urgent Care Center will open in the Jerome Center to provide an affordable and timely alternative to emergency room care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries.

The picture came a bit clearer today at the annual Genesee County Economic Development Center luncheon on how the agency landed a $206 million joint-venture Greek yogurt plant for Batavia.

Mark Koenig, director of engineering and technology at the PepsiCo Global Nutrition Group, said while there were a few reasons Pepsi and the Theo Muller Group picked the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park for Project Wave, a key was getting site-grading permits within 15 days.

Koenig, who heads up similar projects for Pepsi all over the world, lost a bet with Chris Suozzi, VP of Business Development for GCEDC.

"I bet him my house, my wife and my salary that he couldn't get us permitted in 15 days," Koenig said. "I've never seen a greenfield site get permitted in 15 days. I said, 'there's no way.'"

He added, "This team delivered."

The 15-day permitting process allowed Wave Holding LLC to fast-track its development plans, which Suozzi agreed after the meeting was absolutely critical in bringing the project to Batavia.

Without the 15-day permitting, Pepsi and Muller would have been looking at a 30-month process to get its new Greek yogurt products to market. The current timeline is 18 months, all because Town of Batavia officials were able to move the permitting process along quickly.

Earlier this week, GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde told county legislators that Souzzi was instrumental in getting Batavia from the B-list for the project to the final four possible sites.

Koenig also said of critical importance to Pepsi and Muller was the world-class dairy industry in Western New York.

"This is an ag area that is the best in class and that's why we're here," Koenig said. "You have a good milk supply and your milk is the best in its class."

It also helps that from Batavia, Wave Holding can easily reach a third of the potential market in the U.S. for its new Greek yogurt.

Pepsi partnered with Germany-based Muller, Koenig said, because Muller has proprietary recipes and world-class technology for producing yogurt.

The incentive package put together by NYS and GCEDC was also important, Koenig said, but Pepsi was also impressed by the warm welcome the company has received from the community.

"The community support has been fantastic," Koenig said. "All signs say this is going to be a success with the community for years to come and in future growth."

Top: Koenig; bottom, Hanno Lehmann, a senior project manager from the Muller Group.

Executives from PepsiCo and the Muller Group will be keynote speakers March 23 at the Genesee County Economic Development Center's annual meeting at the college.

The two companies are behind Project Wave, the $206 million yogurt plant being built at Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.

Mark Koenig, director of engineering and technology at the PepsiCo Global Nutrition Group -- who was in town when grading started in November although Pepsi's involvement was still officially a secret -- will be joined for a keynote presentation by Hanno Lehmann, a senior project manager from the Mueller Group.

Wave Holding, LLC -- the official name of the joint venture -- is expected to employ nearly 200 people in the near term and perhaps as many as 600 people if the new line of Greek yogurt is as successful as Pepsi and Muller project.

The new joint venture is receiving more than $11 million in tax abatements to build the plant in Batavia, which was initially not even a top-tier choice in the site selection process.

Also speaking at the event will be Rep. Kathy Hochul, State Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, Assemblyman Steve Hawley and County Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock.

GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde will make a presentation on some of the agency's 2011 highlights.

The luncheon is from noon until 1:30 p.m., March 23, at Genesee Community College. Tickets are $15 or $20 at the door. For reservation and tickets in advance, call 343-4866.

In a very short time, Genesee County has become a big player in the global agricultural community, Jim Vincent told the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. He's vice chairman of the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board of Directors.

Vincent commented little during the half-hour meeting in which CEO Steve Hyde provided a quarterly review for members of the county legislature. But he did note that with Alpina building here, followed by Pepsi/Theo Muller and now Bonduelle buying food processing plants in Oakfield and Bergen from Allen's Foods, Genesee County's place in the ag community has been transformed.

Hyde pointed out that the Bonduelle purchase probably saved more than 250 jobs in Genesee County.

Allen's may have been on the verge of closing the plants if they hadn't been sold, Hyde indicated.

While GCEDC wasn't directly involved in the purchase, officials have been speaking with Bonduelle executives and something may be in the works to help the company grow locally.

The four plants purchased by Bonduelle are the first production facilities owned by the France-based company in the United States.

Members of the committee and other legislators at the meeting made few comments and asked few questions.

Hyde was able to point to other successes for GCEDC and its business development partners, such as Java Equipment planning a location in Batavia and Premier Credit opening a phone room on Mill Street.

Hyde said Premier initially planned on 50 jobs -- which pay $12 an hour plus incentives -- but may soon add another 50 positions.

VP of Business Development Chris Suozzi deserves a lot of credit for bringing both Premier and Pepsi to town, Hyde said.

According to Hyde, when GCEDC first learned of Pepsi's plans, the Genesee County Agri-Business Park was only on the B-list.

But Souzi started working his contacts and managed to convince Pepsi officials to make a site visit.

"After the site visit, we went from the B-list to the A-list, from one of 16, to one of the final four, and then being very fortunate to land this project," Hyde said.

Hyde also gave credit to Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer for giving a "yeoman's effort" on behalf the STAMP project in Alabama. GCEDC needs to secure $18 million in grants and Ranzenhofer has been instrumental in arranging key meetings with Senate leaders and lining up support for legislation that might make it possible.

Vincent told legislators that for every dollar the county government invests in the GCEDC, a total of $18.60 is returned to the local economy.

Hyde said that when he started with GCEDC in 2002, the agency and its affiliates did $600,000 in revenue. This last year, it generated $4.4 million in revenue. It turned a profit of $1.3 million.

"Those profits, of course, go right back into helping us create shovel-ready projects," Hyde said. "We try to build our community, build our tax base, create jobs and create success for our community."