Alpina signing raises hopes other companies will commit to agri-business park, Hyde says

There are four to five more companies that are in either early stage or mid-stage study of the Gensee Valley Agri-Business Park, and Columbia-based Alpina Products decision to set up shop in Batavia is going to help the cause, said Steve Hyde, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

"Any time you get your frist tenant in one of these shovel ready sites, it really helps create momentum, much like the rising tide lifts all sail boats," said Hyde. "So, this is something we're most excited about."

The financial details are not available for public release yet because Alpina is still completing paperwork and then the application for tax abatements and grants most be approved the by GCEDC board.  The package is expected to be presented at the board's May meeting.

The deal is contingent on approval of a set of incentives as well as some 900-feet of new roadway being completed to the 10-acre lot Alpina intends to buy.

The purchase price is $50,000 per acre, Hyde said.

"That's the sweet spot," said Hyde. "You spend that much between buying the land and putting in the infrastructure. It really is a cost recovery model."

In a meeting with the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, Hyde mentioned that a mid-level Department of Transportation staff member was holding up a grant for a rail line into the agri-business park, and Hyde said he is hopeful this announcement will help unfreeze those funds.

Some of the businesses might want to locate in the park need rail and won't consider the park "shovel ready" without a rail line in place.

Even though Alpina won't need rail in its early years in the park, Hyde is hopeful Aplina's signing will shift the conversation about the grant.

"Hopefully, it will enable a different conversation," Hyde said. "I'm hopeful it will show this site is real."

Hyde said the GCEDC had four meetings with either staff of Alpina or the company's site selection consultant and the final meeting occurred with the company's entire board of directors, who all flew from Columbia to Batavia to visit the area and hear why this was the right site for them.

The full court press included a meeting attended not just by GCEDC staff, but staff from Buffalo-Niagara Enterprise, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Cornell, RIT and Town of Batavia. Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy was on a speaker phone for key parts of the presentation and really tried to sell the executives on what a great area Western New York is, Hyde said.

GCEDC officials then gave the executives a tour of the county, showing off its amenities and areas of growth and revitalization, and then showed off some of the amenities of the region.  The tour concluded with a dinner at the Wine and Culinary Institute in Canandaigua.

Chefs there made a cheese cake in front of the dignitaries using an Alpina product for the topping.

But in the end, Hyde said, it's all really about the jobs.

"We're delighted that this came through because more than anything, it's going to create 50 jobs for 50 families," Hyde said. "And you know what, in this time, in this economy, every job our business community creates helps."