Upstate Medtech Center

Press release:

The Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC), the real estate arm of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), recently received a grant of $50,000 from National Grid that was used to build the Innovation Zone.

The Innovation Zone has been designed to be an affordable, high quality networking and incubator space and will be located in the 34-acre Upstate MedTech Park in Batavia. It is strategically located across from Genesee Community College, which was recently designated as a START UP NY site. The grant from National Grid is through the company’s CleanTech Incubation Program.

“The concept of creating a space that not only brings entrepreneurs and start-up businesses together, but also allows these individuals to collaborate, has the potential to enhance economic development opportunities in Genesee County even further,” said Dennis Elsenbeck, regional executive for National Grid in Western New York. “From the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park to STAMP, economic development officials in Genesee County have proved that the ‘build it and they will come’ approach works and I am confident it will in this instance.”

To accommodate an existing tenant of the Upstate MedTech Park, construction included the addition of 1,075 square feet of space to expand opportunities for high-tech manufacturing and a loading dock facility. The GGLDC also plans to build out 2,300 square feet of vacant space to increase marketability of the site and allow for a quicker turnaround of market demands. The total capital investment of the project is $155,000 and is expected to create 10 new jobs over the next five years and three new jobs within the first year.

“The new incubator will support the expansion of the Upstate MedTech Park, which will help us attract entrepreneurs in emerging industries such as life sciences and medical device manufacturing among others,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the GCEDC. “This grant is just another example of National Grid’s tremendous support of economic development initiatives in Genesee County.”

National Grid officials and local and state government representatives will participate in a ribbon-cutting event on April 10 in the Innovation Zone to formally unveil the new facility and amenities.

The National Grid CleanTech Incubation Program supports the development of a self-sustaining entrepreneurial and innovation “ecosystem.” The program is intended to stimulate and support the growth of new businesses that, in turn, generate jobs and investment in National Grid’s Upstate New York service territory. Information about National Grid’s suite of economic programs is available at www.shovelready.com

It will be another summer of new commercial development in the Town of Batavia, with three  projects already up for Planning Board review, and that doesn't include the expansion project at Batavia Towne Center.

• GCEDC/GGLDC is planning a second two-story building at the Upstate Med-Tech Center on R. Stephen Hawley Drive, across from GCC. The complex will be 60,000 square feet and be planned for industrial, research and office space.
• An as-yet-undisclosed company is planning a 60,000 square foot cold storage facility at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park. It will be on 10 acres adjacent Alpina's plant and serve Alpina's cold storage needs. The facility require a 42-foot high silo, which is seven feet higher than allowed under current code without a variance.
• A local man is planning a plant that will digest waste from yogurt production -- about 70 percent of the milk product from making yogurt becomes waste -- into products that can be used for other needs or converted into energy.

All three projects will be discussed at the planning board's meeting May 21.

Applications for COR's conversion of the former Lowe's location into four retail spaces hasn't reach the town yet.

There's also the housing development off Seven Springs Road that's still going through the planning process.

Early evening yesterday, the light was wonderful, the clouds fabulous and I had to go to a meeting at GCEDC. I would rather, honestly, preferred to have headed out into the county and hunted for pictures. On the other hand, I've always loved the view heading into the parking lot of the Upstate MedTech Center, especially with the gnarled old trees along the driveway. As I pulled in, I couldn't resist -- I stopped and snapped a few pictures to see what I could capture.

When building the Upstate Medtech Center, the GCEDC should have ensured prevailing wage was paid to construction workers, according to a state Department of Labor (DOL) letter issued in November.

The letter came to light following an Authorities Budget Office report critical of GCEDC's staff compensation practices.

It was written by John D. Charles, associate attorney for the DOL, and issued in response to an unnamed person who asked that the department look into the matter. It concludes that the department's opinion was based solely on the material provided by that person and should not be relied on as a final answer.

Ask for a response to the DOL letter, GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde issued the following statement:

"While the LDC (Genesee Gateway Local Development Corp.) wholly disagrees with the Department of Labor's initial conclusions, we are actively working with them to ensure that they have all of the facts and circumstances of the Medtech project. A final determination has not been made by DOL with respect to the issues and questions raised."

Longtime local contractor Vito Gautieri is known to be concerned about how the bid for construction of the Medtech Center was awarded. It ultimately went to Batavia-based D.A. Tufts Co.

In an interview last week, when asked if the letter from Charles was addressed to him, Gautieri said, "No comment."

He then went on to complain about GCEDC forming a nonprofit corporation -- Genesee Gateway Local Development Corp. (GGLDC) -- as owner and agency developing the project. He said if that's how government agencies are going to operate on construction projects, then "we might as well pull up our shingles and move out of town."

At issue is compliance with New York's prevailing wage laws, which require employees on public works projects to be paid an hourly rate based on a prevailing wage schedule set by the state.

The DOL letter says that according to information given to the agency, the GGLDC's Medtech project does not meet the standards for waiving prevailing wage.

It says that because the project was at first initiated by a public agency (GCEDC wholly owns the GGLDC and is the project's actual owner), it is not just a temporary title holder.  In addition, it is not acting "merely as a mechanism to facilitate financing." If it were just a temporary titleholder and holding title merely to facilitate financing, according to the letter, perhaps paying prevailing wage would not be required.