Business

Press release:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce and Mercy Flight are teaming up to host “Stop the Bleed,” a workshop to be held April 17 at Mercy Flight’s new headquarters, 8050 Call Parkway, Batavia.

The course includes a formal presentation and hands-on practice of direct pressure application, wound packing, and use of a tourniquet. The course was developed for a nonmedical audience to address the needs of the immediate responder to control life-threatening bleeding until help arrives.

“The unavoidable can happen and we need to be prepared,” said Tom Turnbull, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce. “Learning some life-saving tips from professionals can give us the one up we need. Mercy Flight will be giving us firsthand experience and will also allow us to tour their new facility.”

In April 2013, just a few months after the active shooter disaster at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a committee was formed to create a protocol for a national policy to enhance survivability from active shooter and intentional mass casualty events.

The goal of this committee was to turn bystanders into immediate responders at the scene of wounding before first responders arrived. This step would improve the survivability of victims with severe bleeding. As soon as the area became safe, these immediate responders could act to stop bleeding if they were properly trained in the bleeding-control techniques.

The workshop starts at 8 a.m. and should last approximately one hour. This event is free to all Chamber and Downtown Batavia Business Improvement District members. There is a $10 charge for nonmembers.

To register, contact Kelly Bermingham at the Chamber by phone at 585-343-7440 or by email at kbermingham@geneseeny.com

Submitted photo of two Walmart officials and three officers of the Batavia Police Department.

Press release:

Batavia-area residents can now enjoy the benefits of the newly remodeled Walmart Supercenter at 4133 Veterans Memorial Drive in Batavia.

The highly anticipated project was recently completed, and customers are taking advantage of the upgrades, which emphasize convenience and service to meet customers' needs.

“This remodel, along with our everyday low prices, represents our continued investment in Batavia," says Store Manager Roger Couch. "Listening to our customers and incorporating what they want is the meaning of being a community store.

"We were thrilled to provide them with a small celebration of food samplings from our vendors and face painting for kids as a thank you for being loyal customers.”

Along with the grand reopening on Friday, donations totaling $6,470 were made to local organizations. They are: the Batavia Police Department, Project Stork, Elba School, Kaleida Health Foundation, Batavia City School District, John Kennedy School, and UMMC.

This week The Greens of Le Roy senior assisted living facility announced that it has been acquired by St. Ann's Community, a leading provider of senior housing and health services in Rochester with a 134-year history there.

New signage and papwerork will display its new name, St. Ann's Community at The Greens.

Day-to-day operations will continue as they have and Director Kim Pasquale will continue as the day-to-day point of contact person. The St. Ann's finance team will contact residents and their families soon and provide a new W-9 form.

A letter to stakeholders from officials says: "By bringing together The Greens of Le Roy with St. Ann's Community, we benefit from out collective histories, values and missions to provide residents with the best quality of life.

"It quickly became apparent after working together, that our organization becoming one will enhance our abiluty to serve seniors."

The announcement was made by Michael E. McRae, president and CEO of St. Ann's Community, and A. John Bartholomew, president of Bartholomew Healthcare Group.

St. Ann Community is headquartered at 1500 Portland Ave. in Rochester.

Press release:

More than 150 workers at local dairy plants in Genesee County have completed advanced training programs through a dairy workforce solutions initiative.

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) recently was the recipient of a $50,000 grant from National Fuel’s Area Development Program that paved the way for programs led by Cornell University’s Dairy Foods Extension & Harvest New York teams.

Employees from HP Hood, O-AT-KA, and Yancey’s Fancy recently participated in the training, which focused on food safety, dairy science, milk processing technologies, among other topics.

The training sessions are part of a certificate program, which offers continuing education units. Participants received a certificate of achievement from the Dairy Foods Extension program after passing a post-test and completing course evaluations.

“Training over 150 workers is a major achievement, and we were fortunate to have two great partners in National Fuel and Cornell’s Harvest New York program to provide a direct impact to our local workforce,” said Chris Suozzi, vice president of business and workforce development for GCEDC.

“Last year, National Fuel’s Area Development Program awarded $2.5 million in grants to businesses that are locating to or expanding in the Western New York area, so we take pride in partnering with organizations like GCEDC and Harvest New York to further promote local economic growth,” said Cathryn Hilliard, energy consultant for National Fuel.

“Dairy is New York’s top agricultural industry, so with there being a great need for dairy processing in Genesee County, we were thrilled to teach local employees very valuable skills that will ultimately aid in the growth of the industry,” said Anika Zuber, dairy processing specialist for Harvest New York.

Genesee County’s dairy, food and beverage industries increased employment by 29 percent from 2014 to 2018, supporting operations that have since 2010 invested more than $500 million into over 1 million square feet of dairy production facilities at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and Buffalo East Tech Park.

Submitted Video

Today we're excited to debut a new video series exclusive to Genesee County: Batavia's Best Businesses.

We are producing this series in partnership with WBTA AM/FM.

The series offers local businesses an opportunity to promote themselves through a short documentary-style video about their business hosted by Nici Johnson. Our goal is to make short videos about a business that both informs and entertains local viewers and further encourages them to support all of the great locally owned businesses we have in Genesee County.

The videos will be distributed on The Batavian, WBTA, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Twitter. Businesses owners can also download a copy of the video to distribute their own social media channels. Soon, we will also have a website dedicated to Batavia's Best Businesses (bataviasbestbusinesses.com, of course).

Local business owners interested in more information: Call Lorne Way or Jim Ernst at WBTA at (585) 344-1490. 

Press release:

Today, leaders from Batavia Downs/Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation (WROTB) thanked leaders in Albany for allowing 15 local counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo to receive additional revenue to help hold the line on property taxes, fund first responders and public libraries.

Prior to this change in the tax code, Batavia Downs was losing critically needed revenue because we paid the highest tax rate of any Upstate New York gaming facility. With the 2-percent increase approved in the State Budget, localities will see a significant increase effective immediately.

“The passage of this tax fairness legislation is critical for our continued success,” said Henry F. Wojtaszek, president/CEO of Batavia Downs Gaming WROTB.  “We are proud to have a wonderful partnership with Governor Cuomo and our local elected leaders -- especially Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Senator Tim Kennedy.

"Our representatives in Albany understand the important economic impact Batavia Downs Gaming has in Western New York and we are so thankful to them for their hard work on getting this legislation passed today. Thanks to their efforts, we are looking forward to increasing our financial contributions to our community, which will be seen and felt across Western New York.”

Press release:

Tompkins Bank of Castile is celebrating its 150^th anniversary this spring. Together with our partners at Tompkins Insurance Agencies, and Tompkins Financial Advisors, we plan to acknowledge this important milestone in a number of ways and at several key events throughout the year.

The anniversary celebrations will kick off at the original Tompkins Bank of Castile branch on May 1 and continue at the bank’s annual WNY informational shareholders meeting on May 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford.

A century and a half is certainly a long time, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that fewer than 5 percent of the banks currently operating today in the United States have been around as long as Tompkins Bank of Castile. What’s even more impressive is that Tompkins’ mission and values have remained the same, allowing us to consistently perform at a level ranking among the best in the industry. 

“For years, we’ve taken great pride in supporting the communities where we operate,” says John McKenna, president and CEO of Tompkins Bank of Castile. “We look forward to serving our customers for the next 150 years.”

Tompkins Financial Corporation is committed to creating long-term value for its clients, communities, and shareholders. Based in Batavia, Tompkins Bank of Castile serves the GLOW (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties and beyond), Rochester, and recently expanded into Buffalo with the opening of the new Amherst location.

“We believe in the power of the local people working together to help our communities grow and thrive,” McKenna continued.

Since 1869, Tompkins has valued its employees and invested in the communities they serve by volunteering and donating to charities, nonprofits and civic organizations.

The Bank is a subsidiary of Tompkins Financial Corporation, which is also parent company to Tompkins Trust Company, Tompkins Mahopac Bank, Tompkins Insurance Agencies and Tompkins Financial Advisors.

Together, Tompkins operates a total of 65 banking offices serving throughout New York and Pennsylvania. The Corporation as a whole takes pride in providing its clients with the highest-quality financial products and exceptional service.

Press release:

In keeping with its longstanding commitment to the community and marking the 150^th anniversary of the founding of Tompkins Bank of Castile, Tompkins Financial Corporation, one of the largest employers in the City of Batavia, has pledged $150,000 to support the new joint YMCA and Rochester Regional Health Healthy Living Campus in Genesee County.

The project benefits YMCA members and senior citizens by providing services to thousands of individuals currently residing in Genesee and neighboring counties.

This donation supports a $22.5 million land redevelopment project that includes the current YMCA and United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) Cary Hall on Main Street in Batavia. The initiative will have a substantial impact on Main Street, which is home to the headquarters of Tompkins Bank of Castile and Tompkins Insurance Agencies.

“This project will be transformational for downtown Batavia and benefit thousands of community residents for many years to come,” said John McKenna, president and CEO of Tompkins Bank of Castile.

David Boyce, president and CEO of Tompkins Insurance, added, “We’re excited to play a pivotal role in a project that is going to bring such positive change to the community.”

This community initiative is expected to boost the regional economy by about $60 million in over a decade. Rob Walker, YMCA chief executive officer and Daniel Ireland, UMMC president, said that the Genesee County Economic Development Center anticipates $60,478,540 in benefits to the GLOW region— including jobs at the new campus and during construction.

Press release:

Mostert, Manzanero & Scott LLP presented a summary of the audit procedures, undertaken in accordance with the scope of their engagement, and the final audit results to the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC) Board at its March 28 meeting.   

The GGLDC Board engaged Mostert, Manzanero & Scott LLP, a certified public accounting firm, to perform an independent audit of the 2018 financial statements. The independent audit was performed to issue: an opinion on the financial statements of the GGLDC for the year ending Dec. 31, 2018; a management letter to the Board of Directors and management; and, a report about internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Government Auditing Standards. 

Included in the management letter is a statement from Mostert, Manzanero & Scott LLP affirming that no material deficiencies in internal controls were identified during the audit. The firm also affirmed that, in their opinion, the audited financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the GGLDC as of Dec. 31, 2018, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

“I am pleased with the continued positive audit results, and it speaks to the professionalism and transparency of the organization,” said Tom Felton, chairman of the GGLDC. “The GGLDC is actively marketing our industry-specific shovel-ready real estate and continues to see significant interest in our parks.”

Currently, there is $6.7 million of land held for sale and development under the agency's control, including 25 acres at the Buffalo East Technology Park; 130 acres at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park; 14 acres at Med Tech Park; and the Upstate MedTech Centre Building, including an Innovation Zone for entrepreneurial business development.

Press release:

The results are in on workplace satisfaction and, for the second year in a row, the Batavia City School District was recognized as one of the best places to work in the Rochester area.

In addition to receiving a Democrat and Chronicle 2019 Top Workplace Award at a celebration event held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, the District also received an “I Love My Job” award in the large business category for the quantity and quality of the employee responses to a satisfaction survey.

Each year, the Democrat and Chronicle partners with a research and consulting firm to administer an anonymous employee survey on which the awards are based. All employees are invited to respond to questions that cover a variety of workplace factors such as meaningfulness of work, confidence in leadership, availability of training and support, inter-departmental cooperation, evidence of ethics and values, communication, and fair wages and benefits.

For Superintendent of Schools Christopher Dailey, the results of the anonymous and voluntary survey confirmed what he already believed to be true: “Our administration, faculty and staff are outstanding,” he said. “Together they create a culture that is dedicated to helping each student in our schools achieve his or her potential in every aspect of personal growth.

"In addition, our Board of Education, backed by our community, supports the administration in creating a positive environment for our students and staff to work, learn and grow.”

“This independent survey of all of our employees is an excellent recognition that defines our district as a great place to have a career that makes a difference in our world."

The future, he noted, will hold more of the same.

“We offer very competitive salaries and benefits to our employees, and outstanding professional development opportunities for their continued growth and development," the superintendent said. "BCSD also has tremendous facilities for enabling our employees to positively impact the lives of our students, and our 2020 Vision Capital Project will serve to enhance that.”

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will consider approving incentives for Custom Vehicle Operators (CVO), which is transferring operations from its existing facility on Ganson Avenue in the City of Batavia to the former PW Minor manufacturing facility at 3 Treadeasy Ave.

CVO is investing $2 million to purchase and make capital improvements at the 80,000-square-foot building. The project will retain 36 jobs.

CVO is the authorized distributor/installer of accessories for General Motors automobile dealer locations in Central and Western New York and Western and Northeast Pennsylvania.

CVO is seeking sales, mortgage and property tax exemptions of approximately $60,000.

Press release:

Genesee Community College is pleased to announce another exciting annual Spring Job Fair with more than 50 companies expected on Thursday, April 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the College's centrally located William Stuart Forum.

Genesee's Student Success Center continues to solicit businesses from all types of industries to join the popular, two-hour event that introduces potential new employees to employers, and also provides businesses an opportunity to present their trade and services to the local community.

The event is free to employers and attendees. Employers must register; job seekers are not required to register prior to the event but must sign-in upon arrival.

As of March 19, the following employers are scheduled to be in attendance:

Participating employers include:

• ARC of Genesee Orleans
• Aveanna Healthcare 
• Batavia Downs Gaming 
• Barnes & Noble College 
• Brookdale Brockport
• City Year Buffalo
• Coast Professional Inc.
• Combined Insurance
• Darien Lake Amphitheater Legends Hospitality
• Delaware North
• Dept. for Corrections & Community Supervision
• Dept. for Exceptional Children, Monroe 2-Orleans
• ESL Federal Credit Union
• Everdry Waterproofing
• Farm Fresh LLC
• Genesee ACE Employment
• Genesee Community College
• Genesee Community College -- The BEST Center
• Genesee County Human Resources
• Heritage Christian Services
• Hidden Valley Animal Adventure
• Highland Hospital
• HomeCare & Hospice & Totale Senior Care
• Independent Living of the Genesee Region
• Jewish Senior Life
• KR Communications
• Leisure Care East/The Village at Unity/The Village at Mill
• LiDestri Food, Beverage & Spirits
• Lifetime Assistance Inc.
• Lifetime Care
• Live Nation
• Living Opportunities of DePaul
• Manpower
• Mariner Finance
• Monroe County Sheriff's Office
• Monroe Veterinary Associates 
• New York National Guard
• NY Air National Guard
• People's Inc.
• Pioneer Credit Recovery 
• Premier Designs Inc. 
• Real Agent Pro LLC
• Remedy Staffing
• Rochester AmeriCorps
• Rochester Psychiatric Center
• Rolling Hills Asylum
• Sherwin Williams
• Showcase Sound
• Six Flags Darien Lake
• Southern Tier Security & Event Management
• Sutherland Global Services
• Tahoe Pines Custom Sewing & Design
• Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES
• Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP 

For more information, visit: http://www.genesee.edu/career/events/. For a detailed listing of job opportunities by employer, please email a request for the list to career@genesee.edu.

Bill Farmer cut the ribbon Tuesday, St. Joseph's Day, for the grand reopening of the L.B. Grand Restaurant, two years after he acquired the business and building at 37 Main St., Le Roy.

In the past two years, Farmer has made a lot of changes inside the building (previously: While Farmer's Creekside Inn prospers, Bill Farmer keeps busy in the Village of Le Roy) and Tuesday he said there is still much work planned for the coming year.

In addition to upgrades inside, Farmer is planning to restore the building's facade (he's already put up a new awning).

After the ribbon cutting, guests enjoyed a traditional St. Joseph's Day's meal. Chef Sean Wolf said based on the response this year to the first St. Joseph's Day meal offered by L.B. Grand, next year the staff will plan on laying out a traditional St. Joseph's Day table.

Top photo: Tom Turnbull, president, Chamber of Commerce, Mary Blevins, with the Chamber, Mayor Greg Rogers, Bill Farmer, Chef Sean Wolf, Ethan Olsowski, L.B. Grand staff, and Chamber Board Member Jeff Cook.

Legislator Shelly Stein, Chef Sean Wolf, Bill Farmer, Mayor Greg Rogers.

Press release:

Imagination Station Child Care & Preschool is expanding its operation and adding a new location in Batavia. Known as the “Batavia East Center,” the location is scheduled to open mid-May and is located at 5079 Clinton Street Road in Batavia, the former Grandma’s Lovin’ Care building.

The center will have a variety of new features for Imagination Station and upgrades from its current location in Batavia. The building will have cameras in every classroom, a private playground, and doors throughout which lead to the outside, and a brand-new school-age classroom in the lower half of the building, which will be over 1,000 square feet!

Imagination Station is upgrading the building to include painting throughout, all new window treatments, new flooring in needed areas, an improved parking lot, and all new equipment and furniture in the classrooms.

“It’s a beautiful building and we’re excited for children to be occupying it again!" said owner Kelly Kronbeck. "We’re giving the building some love and attention, then we’ll be ready to open in the spring.

"We look forward to being able to create a more intimate environment at each of our Batavia locations since overall they’ll both be smaller in size."

Imagination Station, which is a locally owned and operated child-care provider, currently has a total of five centers, including the newest Batavia addition.

The new and improved center on Clinton Street Road will accommodate children from the ages of 6 weeks to 12 years old and has capacity for 112 students. The center will consist of two infant classrooms, three toddler classrooms, two preschool classrooms, and one school-age classroom.

Imagination Station prides itself in offering an educationally based program that is safe for its students and professionally run for its families. They credit their success to the hands-on approach they take in running their centers, but also by offering a high-quality program at an affordable rate, which is about 20 percent lower than its competitors between Buffalo and Rochester.

Interested families can tour the existing location by setting up an appointment! Enrollment is now available for both locations and is being filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call 585-343-0990 or visit the company’s website at www.istationccp.com for more information.

Press release:

Every second, three new businesses "startup" in the United States. In the time it takes the average reader to finish this paragraph, nine new companies will be born, according to the 2018 GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) national report.

Conversely, the Small Business Administration tells us that 50 percent of those will fail during the first four to five years; but why is that? Do half of the entrepreneurs in the country have lousy ideas? Actually, among the leading causes for startup failure is a lack of basic business experience.

In lieu of losing thousands of investment dollars, today's entrepreneurs have found another way to gain that experience before launching their startup -- education.

"If you don't educate yourself, you'll never get out of the starting block because you'll spend all your money making foolish decisions," said Daymond John, investor on "Shark Tank," a reality television show on ABC in which contestants pitch their business ideas to a panel of potential investors in hopes of launching their retail dreams.

Genesee Community College offers both degree and certificate programs in Entrepreneurship to prepare emerging business owners and investors for success. To further open up learning opportunities to both students and the public, GCC teamed up with the GCEDC (Genesee County Economic Development Center) to sponsor the second annual Business Idea Pitch Competition.

The competition will be held Tuesday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room T102 of the Conable Technology Building at the Genesee Community College's Batavia Campus.

The deadline for competitors to register to participate is April 5.

Registration requires the participant to submit an Executive Summary of their business idea, and attend at least one of the preparation workshops listed below. Participating high school students are not required to attend a workshop.

The competition is limited to 25 participants who will be selected based on their Executive Summary submissions and announced on April 5.

Executive Summary criteria and submission instructions are available by contacting Lina LaMattina, Ph.D., at lmlamattina@genesee.edu. 

The GCEDC's StartUp Genesee Networking Group has donated cash prizes which will be awarded at the Pitch Competition on April 30. Prizes of $100 for first place and $75 for second place will be awarded to the most outstanding competitors in the "most likely to succeed" and "most creative" categories. Pitches will be judged by local business leaders.

To help participants pursue their passions and take their first entrepreneurial steps, GCC will host three preparation workshops. 

• Starting a Business -- Tuesday, April 9, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in room T121
• Business Plan Basics -- Tuesday, April 23, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in room T121
• Idea Pitch Practice -- Thursday, April 25, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in room T122

These workshops are free and open to anyone participating in the Business Idea Pitch Competition. To sign up for a workshop, please contact Lina LaMattina , Ph.D., at lmlamattina@genesee.edu.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) approved incentives for two projects at the organization’s March 7 board meeting. 

Gateway GS LLC plans to invest $450,000 to build out the interior of an existing 27,000-square-foot spec building that the company constructed in 2018 at the Gateway II Corporate Park in the Town of Batavia. The project will create five new jobs.

Gateway GS LLC will receive sales, mortgage and property tax exemptions totaling approximately $206,000. For every dollar of public benefit, the company will invest approximately $12.60 into the local economy.

Gateway GS LLC intends to lease the space for various uses, including warehouse, distribution, light manufacturing, technology and commercial operations. The company has already lined up tenants for the improved facility, and plans to construct four additional buildings in the near future.

Tenney Coin Laundry, which is located on Ellicott Street in the City of Batavia, is purchasing $197,896 in new equipment and was approved for a sales tax abatement of approximately $15,832. For every dollar of public benefit, Tenney Coin Laundry is investing $56.70 into the local economy.

Tenney Coin Laundry also has submitted a grant request to the Downtown Revitalization Initiative's (DRI) building improvement fund for repairs to the facility's facade as well as structural improvements. Funding through the DRI is administered by the Batavia Development Corporation.

Press release:

“Managing Your Online Reputation” will be the subject of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Workshop on Wednesday, March 13.  

“With so many ways for people to review organizations these days, how do business owners keep a tab on all of it?" said Tom Turnbull, president of the Chamber. “This workshop will teach the fundamentals of keeping a good reputation in today’s electronic environment and how to use your reputation to gain sales.”

Greg Lindberg, of the Small Business Administration, will conduct the workshop. This is the one of a series of business workshops held in conjunction with the United States Small Business Administration and the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

The workshops are open to all Chamber and non-Chamber businesses and their employees and will offer expert advice from experienced professionals designed to help small businesses succeed and grow.

The workshop will be held at the Chamber of Commerce office, 8276 Park Road, Batavia.

The session will run from 8 to 9 a.m. and includes a question-and-answer period.

Cost for non-Chamber members is $10 for each attendee. Chamber members and Batavia Business Improvement District members may attend all small business workshops free of charge but should make reservations to insure space. 

To reserve a seat in any workshop or for more information, contact Kelly Bermingham at 585-343-7440 or by email at kbermingham@geneseeny.com