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City and Town of Batavia officials and the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) announced the creation of the Batavia Home Fund (BHF), an incentive-styled program designed to improve and grow the area’s housing stock on Friday. 

The fund was created to address shared housing goals and establish methods

Press Release:

The proposal reviewed by the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) for HP Hood’s $120 million expansion at its September 7, 2023 board meeting marks a significant milestone for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park in the town of Batavia. 

Since opening in 2011, the Ag Park and

Press release:

Empire State Development (ESD) today announced that dairy product manufacturer HP Hood will grow its operations in Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. The project will include the addition of new processing systems, along with other upgrades, which will allow the company to increase capacity for the production of

With so much talk about global warming and climate change, that would seem to be the likely culprit for drought so extreme it has dried up dozens of wells in pockets of Genesee County.

However, Stephen Shaw, associate professor for environmental resources engineering at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, says it might be much more random than that.

Shaw has just completed a 20-year analysis and a report about dry wells across the entire northeast. He found that a drought in 2016 was “pretty intense,” especially across Western New York and Buffalo in particular. That didn’t match what these towns — the volume of households — in Genesee County have experienced, he said.

In its 16^th year, the Triple O Mechanical Singles Handicap Tournament at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen continues to be a hit with bowlers throughout Western New York.

The latest edition of the popular mid-November event unfolded on Sunday with 70 participants – just two shy of the

It's been 15 years since Steve Hyde first conceived of a massive, high-tech industrial park in Genesee County, and in 2023 Hyde is still focused on turning WNY STAMP into a fully realized mega site in the Town of Alabama even as the project faces its biggest legal challenges yet.

Hyde, the CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, and Jim Krencik, the agency's marketing director, spoke with The Batavian on Friday primarily to discuss a new $56 million round of funding from New York State.

The infusion of cash, Hyde shared in his unbowed enthusiasm for all things STAMP, will help take STAMP -- with two projects already being developed -- to the next level, making it more attractive to a new wave of site selectors.

The next steps are yet to be determined.

That seems to be the ongoing response from city and county officials in the aftermath of an announcement by CEO Samuel Savarino that his company will be ceasing operations and laying off its employees.

Savarino is the developer of Ellicott Station, the four-story apartment complex touted as an economic lifesaver for downtown Batavia and for working individuals and families in need of an affordable, quality and safe place to live.

That economic vision was blurred earlier this year when the online rental application indicated income requirements of very low to low ranges, seemingly squelching the notion that the units would indeed be for workforce individuals. The Batavian had reached out to Savarino requesting details about a lottery that awarded rentals to 55 tenants. He wasn’t privy to such information, he had said at the time.

The Batavian was the first and only news source to report on the apparent requirements and changes in income at Ellicott Station. You can help community-minded local reporting continue by joining Early Access Pass.

Genesee County Economic Development Center officials have severed their ties with Savarino Companies and asked for more than $1 million of tax benefits back, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Jim Krencik says.