empire state development

With some warmer temperatures forecast for Easter Sunday and Monday, area golf enthusiasts may have been looking forward to capitalizing on the fact that golf courses were open – although with limited service – for business.

All of that changed on Thursday when Empire State Development, the agency charged with designating businesses as “essential” or “non-essential," moved golf courses into the "non-essential" category.

Golf courses had been open for the past couple weeks.

“It’s really too bad about golf courses. It’s a safe place for people to get, especially if it’s done right (practicing social distancing),” Karen Pompa, owner of Batavia Country Club said this morning. “It can be a relief for people to walk around for four or five hours.”

She said that many of her customers are not happy about the latest New York State restriction.

“I’ve been getting a lot of emails from people saying that they want to get petitions going to open golf courses,” she said.

Pompa said things are quiet at the Batavia-Byron road establishment, which also has had to put a hold on its restaurant business.

“Like everyone else, we just have to wait it out,” she said.

According to Section 13, Recreation, of ESD’s guidance on essential services document:

-- Parks and other open public spaces, except playgrounds and other areas of congregation where social distancing cannot be abided;

-- However, golf courses are not essential;

-- However, use of boat launches and marinas for recreational vessels is not considered essential;

The golf courses mandate is effective through April 29 unless changed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Prior to yesterday’s ruling, the state had allowed golf courses to operate as businesses as long as they abided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state-mandated guidelines, and adhered to safe, social distancing.

Press release:

Empire State Development (ESD) today announced its investment in the continued growth of Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. located in Batavia, Genesee County.

As part of the industrial plating company’s modernization project, it has installed a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment and recycling system at its Apollo Drive location.

The updated system will reduce water usage by as much at 80 percent. The facility upgrade will allow the company to add another shift, resulting in the creation of up to 10 new jobs; 100 jobs will be retained, 30 of which had been at risk.

Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky said, “Tompkins Metal Finishing’s decision to continue its expansion in Genesee County reflects the success of our strategic support for growing and revitalizing the Upstate economy, especially by adding jobs and opportunity.”

To help ensure Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. continued success, ESD is providing the company with up to $150,000 through the Excelsior Jobs Program in exchange for job creation commitments. Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. is investing $900,000 in the facility upgrade which they expect to be completed by the end of this year.

Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. President Allen Tompkins said, “Without this tax credit it would have been much more difficult to invest the $900,000 in our state-of-the-art wastewater treatment and water recycling system. This new system and the investment from ESD will allow us to continue our growth in Genesee County and will allow us to recycle our water for years to come.”

Established in 1955, Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. is operating in a new state-of-the-art 65,000-square-foot facility. In addition to offering its customers high-quality products, Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. owns a fleet of trucks, allowing them to deliver those products efficiently to customers throughout Western New York. They service clients in the aerospace, communications, transportation, electronics, optical, medical, machine, defense and protype fields.

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer said, “It is always great to see new jobs being created. The investments that the State is making in our community to grow new manufacturing jobs is crucial. I am appreciative of the commitment that Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. is making to Genesee County.”

State Assemblyman Stephen Hawley said, "Tompkins Metal Finishing has been a hallmark business in our community for many years and I am pleased to witness their further expansion that includes renewed efforts toward improving environmental stewardship.

"The Finger Lakes Region is on the rise, and I commend any company or organization, which creates jobs and contributes to our overall success as Tompkins Metal Finishing has done for many years. I look forward to touring their new state-of-the-art wastewater system and wish them the best of success moving forward.”

City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. said, “It’s exciting to see a long-established company like Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc. continue to grow and invest in Batavia. Not only are they creating new jobs they’re also protecting our fragile environment in the process. I commend Tompkins Metal Finishing for their forward thinking and continued commitment to the community!”

Steven G. Hyde, GCEDC President & CEO, said, “The investment being made by Tompkins Metal Finishing demonstrates their commitment to building high-quality industrial plating products, and high-quality careers in Genesee County. This investment reinforces that Governor Cuomo’s strategy and plan to grow manufacturing jobs and capital investments to the Finger Lakes region is working. We want to thank Tompkins Metal Finishing for their continued investment in our community.”

For more information about Tompkins Metal Finishing Inc., click here.

Accelerating Finger Lakes Forward

Today’s announcement complements “Finger Lakes Forward,” the region’s comprehensive blueprint to generate robust economic growth and community development. The State has already invested more than $6.1 billion in the region since 2012 to lay the groundwork for the plan – investing in key industries including photonics, agriculture‎ and food production, and advanced manufacturing.

Today, unemployment is down to the lowest levels since before the Great Recession; personal and corporate income taxes are down; and businesses are choosing places like Rochester, Batavia and Canandaigua as a destination to grow and invest in.

Now, the region is accelerating Finger Lakes Forward with a $500 million State investment through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, announced by Governor Cuomo in December 2015. The State’s $500 million investment will incentivize private business to invest well over $2.5 billion – and the region’s plan, as submitted, projects up to 8,200 new jobs. More information is available here.

Stephen Quider, left, is the newest officer on the Batavia City police force. He was introduced to City Council tonight by Chief Shawn Heubusch, who said Quider has completed his 16 weeks of field training. The West Henrietta resident is in the process of relocating to the City.

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Now that the rezoning of several parcels owned by City Church’s St. Anthony’s campus on Liberty Street is finally official, leaders of the Teen City project are rolling up their sleeves to expedite the transition of the Batavia Youth Bureau from its current MacArthur Drive location.

“We’re looking at the first quarter of the year (2019) to open Teen City, collaborating with the YMCA,” said Jocelyn Sikorski, Batavia Youth Bureau executive director, at tonight’s City Council meeting at City Hall. “We have put together an aggressive timeline.”

After a few months of discussion and planning board meetings, Council voted unanimously to change the zoning of five tracts on Liberty Street and one on Central Avenue from R-3 Residential to C-3 Central Commercial in order for City Church to offer business activities to the public and, as a result, pave the way for the youth bureau’s relocation.

Teen City is the name for the after-school program that will be operated by the Batavia Youth Bureau and YMCA, with assistance from City Church.

Sikorski, in a memo to City Council dated Dec. 5, wrote that a lease/operating agreement with City Church has been drafted and reviewed by City Attorney George Van Nest.

“This (anticipated approval of the lease by City Council) will enable us to move into the next steps regarding modifications to the facility, including renovations to the cafeteria as well as IT and security needs,” Sikorski wrote.

She added that bids for the work will go out over the next few weeks, and that a memorandum of understanding between the Batavia Youth Bureau and YMCA for shared staffing and oversight of the after-school program is being developed.

Sikorski’s committee has prioritized the necessary documents along with an intermunicipal agreement with the Batavia City School District for the current youth center site and transportation, along with a Teen City logo design contest. If all goes according to plan, a “kickoff event” will take place on Feb. 22.

Responding to a query from Council Member John Canale, Sikorski said the school district intends to take over the existing youth bureau building – occupying it and paying all expenses.

“This would not be a lease,” Sikorski said, adding that the Community Garden there would not be affected.

In a related move, Council voted to accept a $10,000 grant from the New York State Education Department to help fund the after-school program and another $1,000 from the County Youth Bureau for equipment, supplies and materials.

In other action, Council:

-- Passed a local law making Thorpe Street a one-way street for southbound traffic between Watson and Maple streets.

Thorpe becomes the seventh street in the City designated as one-way, joining Hewitt Place, Lewis Place, McKinley Avenue, North Spruce Street, School Street and Wiard Street.

-- Extended for a year -- three pacts with Genesee County relating to water supply, operation and maintenance of the water treatment plant and lease of the water treatment facility. This was done to allow the City and County to forge a long-term contract in tandem with a sales tax agreement.

In a memo dated Dec. 4, DPW Director Matt Worth noted two new changes to the water supply agreement:

1. Leaving the index allowing for a maximum change in the cost of wholesale water purchased by the City to remain as the Consumer Price Index, which is consistent with the existing contract, and
2. Making Genesee County a co-applicant or endorsing entity of any funding applications prepared by the City for services related to the removal of lead within the system.

Worth stressed that the City has no issues with lead, but included that provision to deal with any necessary improvements down the road.

-- Voted in a favor of a new three-year lease and sublease (through April 1, 2022) with the New York-Penn League for use of Dwyer Stadium for the league-owned Batavia Muckdogs.

The proposed lease is consistent with the most recent lease – “it has the same language as the current lease and sublease except for the term,” Van Nest said -- and calls for a $25,000 capital investment by the City into the facility annually.

-- Heard a brief report from City Manager Martin Moore regarding a pair of Downtown Revitalization Projects that are “moving along.”

Moore said he met with representatives of Empire State Development Corporation last week and was informed that funding for the Ellicott Place project is “on its way” and for the Healthy Living Campus project is due by the end of the week.

He also said that the Batavia Development Corporation’s “kickoff meeting” for mini-grants is set for next week.

Council then authorized Moore and Council President Eugene Jankowski to sign paperwork to receive an ESDC reimbursement grant in the amount of $25,000 to assist the Genesee Area YMCA in preparing a feasibility study for the Healthy Living Campus.

-- Appointed Bob Gray and Leslie Moma to the Community Garden Committee through Dec. 31, 2022, and Sharon Burkel to the Historic Preservation Commission through Dec. 31, 2021.

During a Conference Meeting following the Business Meeting, Council agreed to take up at its next meeting (Jan. 14) two resolutions dealing with a Community Development Block Grant for 900 linear feet of water main on Brooklyn Avenue in the amount of $333,000.

Worth said the project, along with drainage work at Williams Park and along the Tonawanda Creek bank, calls for an environmental impact review and a resolution stating who the certifying officer would be (in this case, Jankowski).

The project is slated to go to bid in March, Worth said.

Press release:

The Empire State Development (ESD) Board of Directors today approved a total of $46 million in grant funds for infrastructure construction and development at the Western New York Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP).

The site, located in Alabama, Genesee County, is currently being prepared for anchor tenant 1366 Technologies to build its first large-scale commercial Direct Wafer™ production plant and significantly grow its workforce. The company, which develops and manufactures high performance silicon wafers for the solar energy industry, will create at least 600 new, full-time jobs and several hundred million dollars of private investment in the Finger Lakes region.

The development of the STAMP site has been a priority project for the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council (FLREDC) for the past five years and is a major component of advancing “Finger Lakes Forward.”

Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky said: “Today's board approval reinforces New York State’s commitment to fostering the clean energy technologies of the future to create jobs and economic opportunities for New Yorkers. These funds ensure infrastructure work continues, bringing us another step closer to STAMP hosting 1366 Technologies, and the hundreds of new high-tech jobs they’re going to generate.”

The funding approved today for the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) enables infrastructure work at the STAMP site to continue, in preparation for the construction of 1366 Technologies’ production plant. The project, announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo last October, will progress in phases, with 1366 Technologies initially building a 250MW facility that will ultimately be a 3GW wafer facility. Over the course of the multiphase project, 1366 will invest approximately $700 million, including a $100 million initial investment, becoming the largest economic development project in the history of Genesee County.

Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, said: “The approval of these funds by Empire State Development demonstrates the commitment by Governor Cuomo to keep the development of the STAMP site moving forward. With this approval, the GCEDC will be begin construction of the infrastructure required on site, including the necessary infrastructure for the new solar wafer manufacturing facility, 1366 Technologies.”

The GCEDC will use a grant of up to $18 million for facility and infrastructure construction related to the 130,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and related infrastructure for 1366 Technologies, Inc. – the first anchor tenant at STAMP. These funds are part of the $56.3 million in total state incentives that were critical in securing 1366 Technologies commitment to build its factory in Upstate New York. The additional funds approved today, $28 million, are the remaining balance of a $33 million budget appropriation and are primarily for infrastructure construction at STAMP. In November 2015, the ESD Directors approved $5 million for remaining land acquisition and engineering for roadway, electrical, water, sewer and wastewater systems. A portion of the remaining land parcels have been acquired and the engineering phase of the project is approximately 40-percent complete. The remaining funds needed to await completion of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, which has been completed and with today’s action by the ESD Directors the balance of the project can move forward.

1366 Technologies develops and manufactures high performance silicon wafers, the building block of solar cells and the most expensive component of a solar panel. The company’s revolutionary Direct Wafer™ technology transforms how the wafers are made and replaces a decades-old, expensive and wasteful manufacturing process with one elegant step. The result slashes the cost of a wafer by 50 percent. As a “drop-in” replacement for conventional wafers, 1366 Technologies makes it easy for cell and module manufacturers to strip out costs without adding complexity.

In September 2011, 1366 was also issued a $150 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a commercial-scale manufacturing facility.

The Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) site is part of New York’s High Tech Corridor and is the state’s second shovel-ready mega site (1,250 acres) designed to attract large companies including semiconductor, display/ imaging, photovoltaics, optics/ photonics, and bio-manufacturing firms. The site is located within the New York Power Authority’s low-cost hydropower zone and is serviced by redundant, highly reliable power. Located just five miles north of the New York State Thruway on exit 48A, the site has access to a bi-region population of 2.1 million people. The STAMP site has been validated as a regional priority project by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and is supported by regional business and labor organizations, as well as regional colleges and universities.

Accelerating Finger Lakes Forward

Today’s announcement complements “Finger Lakes Forward,” the region’s comprehensive blueprint to generate robust economic growth and community development. The State has already invested more than $3.4 billion in the region since 2012 to lay the groundwork for the plan – investing in key industries including photonics, agriculture and food production, and advanced manufacturing. Today, unemployment is down to the lowest levels since before the Great Recession; personal and corporate income taxes are down; and businesses are choosing places like Rochester, Batavia and Canandaigua as a destination to grow and invest in.

Now, the region is accelerating Finger Lakes Forward with a $500 million State investment through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, announced by Governor Cuomo in December 2015. The State’s $500 million investment will incentivize private business to invest well over $2.5 billion – and the region’s plan, as submitted, projects up to 8,200 new jobs. More information is available here. -- https://www.ny.gov/programs/upstate-revitalization-initiative

A roomful of business and community leaders heard today from Vincent Esposito, director of Empire State Development’s Finger Lakes regional office, as he talked about the economic development opportunity and effort both regionally and in Batavia.

The gathering comes prior to meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall were officials will discuss Batavia's application for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which is a regional competiton with a $10 million prize. CORRECTION: It's at 5:30 p.m., Monday, at the Generation Center.

Batavia has a good shot at the prize because of all the work already put into improving Downtown, most notably the Batavia Opportunity Area, which has 10 brownfield revitalization projects already in the pipeline.

The Finger Lakes Region has already been a big winner in a statewide competition fro regional economic development areas, receiving a grant of $500 million from the state for projects in the region.

There are three main areas of focus for those funds, Esposito said:

• Eastman Park in Rochester;
• Downtown Rochester; and,
• The STAMP project in Genesee County.

About 50 percent of the $500 million are going to projects in Monroe County, Esposito said, and the rest is spread out in the other county's in the region; however, about two-thirds of that 50 percent is going to Genesee County, he said.

The primary goals of the Finger Lakes regional office is job creation, regional wealth creation, increase private investment and reduce poverty.

In the past five years, economic development activity has created 20,000 new jobs, he said.

The projects expected over the next five years, he said, will result in $6.4 billion in private investments and a conservative estimate of 8,200 new jobs.

"We want to keep that commitment low and then over deliver," he said.

The main economic engines in growth for the region he said are optics/photonics, agriculture and food processing and high-tech wafer and chip manufacturing.

The third area is where GCEDC's STAMP project comes in and why it's attracting a big chunk of the funds from the Finger Lakes Region.

"If ever there was a time to be optimistic about your future, this is it," Esposito said.

Press release:

Genesee Community College recently received notice from Empire State Development that the College's Start-Up New York Plan has been fully approved. GCC's plan is part of the statewide initiative introduced last year by Governor Andrew Cuomo to encourage potential development on or within one mile of each of the State University of New York's (SUNY) 64 campuses by offering tax-free status to both the company and new employees for up to 10 years.

Each SUNY institution can designate up to 200,000 square feet of off-campus space in addition to available space on-campus for Start-Up New York projects that create new jobs associated with the academic curriculum offered by the connected campus.

With ESD approval, GCC can now accept business applications for Start-Up New York proposals. Each application must also include a Related Persons Report and a Competition Analysis to help ensure the business entity and proposal are new opportunities in New York State and do not compete against existing businesses.

To review the online Start-Up New York application, go to: http://esd.ny.gov/index.html

For general information about Start-Up NY go to: http://startup-ny.com/

All Start-Up NY proposals presented to Genesee Community College will be reviewed by the College administration and the Board of Trustees. Among the potential business types identified as appropriate for a Start-Up New York proposal with GCC are agricultural research, rural energy development, private protection or security services and advanced manufacturing. GCC will not consider industries or businesses that do not meet the Start-Up New York requirements including companies working in finance, business administration, support services, retail or food services.

"The creation of new jobs while not hurting existing businesses is the central objective of Start-Up NY," said William Emm, GCC's executive vice president for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. "For GCC, program opportunities that support the College's mission can exist at or near the Batavia Campus in Genesee County, but also at or near the College's campus centers in Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming Counties."