Joseph Mancuso was managing a hardware store when his family charged him with the impossible task of recruiting a tenant for a vacant hulk of a factory that measured nearly a million square feet. Once a foundry, bordered by freight rails and industry on all sides, the building was literally a community investment: the land had been bought in nickels and dimes by the residents of Batavia in the 1880s to attract big business to the area. They succeeded. But by 1956, the factory was finished.
Of course, Mancuso couldn't find anyone to take the space. It was the 1950s. His son, Tom Mancuso, told us a bit about the history that followed, and a funny little story about how the world came to know the business incubator. Enjoy!
