GCEDC

Here's a news release sent today from the Genesee County Economic Development Center:

The employment scene in Genesee County for year 2010, despite the Great Recession being in full swing, had positive results with regards to employment and job creation and retention across the county.

According to the latest figures just released from the New York State Department of Labor, Genesee County showed a net increase of 300 private sector jobs in 2010. The growth rate of private sector job creation within the county reflected a 1.8-percent increase for the year.

This type of growth is encouraging as most communities across the state and country have been shedding jobs or are fighting to maintain the status quo during 2010.

“Genesee County continues to succeed and grow even during difficult economic times," said Steve Hyde, president of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.  "This growth has been enabled by our private sector companies being resilient and successful during these tough economic times."

The GCEDC board of directors drove a focus on growth and ensuring we are a “business-friendly” community by way of our economic development strategic plan written in 2003.

Since 2005, GCEDC has participated in 177 economic development projects with area companies. This has fostered capital investment commitments which exceed $430 million and job creation commitments of nearly 1,400 jobs.

“It is encouraging to see that public/private partnerships like the GCEDC has with our business community is contributing to their sustainability and growth, especially in uncertain economic times like we have today," Hyde said. "I’m hopeful for continued growth and success in our local and regional economies in 2011."

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer is once again supporting legislation that would prohibit staff members of public authorities -- such as the Power Authority and the Genesee Economic Development Center -- from receiving bonus payments as part of their compensation.

Ranzenhofer said he plans to support legislation introduced again this session by Sen. George D. Maziarz that would ban the sort of bonus payments that recently came under scrutiny by the Authorities Budget Office.

"In the private sector, such bonuses may be appropriate," Ranzenhofer said, "but in the public sector it is not appropriate. The more appropriate way to do things is if someone is doing a good job, then you want to adjust their salary. If they're doing a poor job, then you adjust their salary."

GCEDC's board, according to the ABO report, has paid out more than $344,000 in bonuses to employees since 2004.

Jim Vincent, vice chairman of the GCEDC board of directors, insisted after the report came out that the board "has done nothing wrong." He said employee compensation has been based on performance and within legal guidelines.

Ranzenhofer said he has no issue with the job GCEDC has done and believes the agency has created jobs and done a good job representing Genesee County, he just thinks staff members shouldn't receive bonuses.

Also, at a reader request, we confirmed today that GCEDC staff are eligible to participation in the New York State retirement system. We have a request into GCEDC for details on contributions for employees but have no response yet.

County Manager Jay Gsell said employee payments for the pension fund come from GCEDC independent revenues and not from the county contribution to GCEDC. He said the county's contribution covers 42 percent of base wages for agency personnel.

Previously:

• State report blasts compensation practices of GCEDC
• ABO report on GCEDC neither fair nor accurate, officials say
• GCEDC releases consultant's salary survey

At the request of The Batavian, the Genesee County Economic Development Center sent over a one-page summary of a compensation survey completed in 2008.

The survey gathered compensation information from 26 IDAs from across the United States, comparing budget, staffing and executive compensation.

Handwritten notes on the summary indicate GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde earned a base salary of $134,550 and the average salary of the 26 agencies was $148,000, with his total compensation set at $171,600 compared to an average of $166,600.

Download (PDF).

Previously:

• State report blasts compensation practices of GCEDC
• ABO report on GCEDC neither fair nor accurate, officials say

A state report critical of compensation practices of the Genesee Economic Development Center is neither fair nor accurate, county and agency officials are saying today.

"We've done nothing wrong," said Jim Vincent, vice chairman of the GCEDC board of directors. "Nobody likes to be criticized, but we stand by what we've done. We are being criticized for our success."

The Authorities Budget Office report strongly condemns how more than $344,000 in bonuses have been awarded to GCEDC staff since 2005 and also expresses concerns about the $153,000 annual base salary paid to Director Steve Hyde. (Read: Previous Story)

Vincent said everything the GCEDC has done was cleared by an attorney and performed in accordance with state law.

"This is a difference of opinion," Vincent said. "They (the ABO) thinks we did it the wrong way. We think we did it the right way. We truly feel we have a dynamic organization.

"We've done everything legally, properly and transparently, and we continue to produce results."

While referring most questions to Vincent, the director said everything about compensation is a board decision and Vincent should speak for the board. Hyde was also critical of the ABO report.

"The report is using only half-truths in a lot of ways and disregarded a lot of the facts and information we provided them," Hyde said. "But that's the regulatory environment we live in."

Hyde said the ABO disregarded performance models provided by GCEDC and a compensation survey that showed his salary was right in line with 26 other similar IDA's across the nation.

The GCEDC claims it has generated $409 million in capital improvements for Genesee County businesses (full list, PDF).

In a memo released by the GCEDC late this afternoon, GCEDC attorney Robert J. Ryan said the ADO's report is wrong in stating the board didn't have the authority to set compensation as it sees fit and issue bonuses according to its own guidelines.

Ryan:

... the ABO Report concludes that the Agency does not have the legal authority to pay incentives or additional compensation. This is the opinion of the ABO and not based in law. The General Municipal Law explicitly provides the Agency the ability to establish and pay compensation out of Agency funds. We are unaware of and the ABO has not provided any legal authority that would prohibit the Agency’s compensation package being based upon salary and a performance incentive.

ABO Director David Kidera said his agency was really trying to get across two points in its report:

• First, that the GCEDC is really dealing in public funds, "even if they don't see it that way," and the kind of profit-sharing plan the board has been using isn't appropriate or legal.
• Second, that while the GCEDC board says it has followed procedure and been transparent in its compensation practices, the board can't really produce any documentation to support its claims.

Because the bonus payments were not appropriate, Kidera said, the report recommends that the payments be "recovered."

That means, he said today, the board should ask employees to return the $344,000 in bonus payments they've received since 2005.

He implied he realizes that isn't necessarily a realistic expectation.

"I think we're required to say that because these bonuses were paid inappropriately, that because in the absence of any proper procedures for paying bonuses -- and these are taxpayer funds -- the board should seek to rectify that," Kidera said.

"Is that going to happen? I don't know. I realize we're talking about employees here and this might not happen in the private sector, but we would be remiss in our responsibilities if we just said, 'it's wrong,' and then let it go."

Kidera acknowledged that the ABO has no real authority to enforce its recommendations. It's up to the GCEDC board, he said, whether to implement its recommendations, or up to the legislature to replace the board if it doesn't like the board's response to the recommendations.

Otherwise the only thing the ABO can do is issue a follow-up report on the board and county's response to the initial report.

He did say a copy of the report was sent to District Attorney Lawrence Friedman with the idea that the DA's office could investigate any potential legal wrongdoing.

Friedman said that he's received the report but that it's really too soon to say if any sort of legal proceedings would follow.

Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the Genesee County Legislature, said it is not the legislature's role to act in an oversight capacity of the GCEDC. She said the procedures put in place creating IDAs, put the IDAs at arm's-length from county legislatures. The legislature doesn't approve the budget or operations of the GCEDC. 

While GCEDC board members are appointed by the Genesee County Legislature, the time for dealing with issues related to any appointee are when it's time to renew a term or make new appointments.

The county just finished a budget process that required sacrifice from several departments and nearly led to the elimination of the county's nationally recognized, pioneering restorative justice program, Genesee Justice. In order to save the program, the agency's director, Ed Minardo, volunteered to resign.

Hancock said the county's share of funding for GCEDC was cut by 15 percent, reducing it to about $266,000, and Hancock said that is money well spent.

"It has been demonstrated that the magnification of each dollar we put into GCEDC, because of their success in attracting business, we've found that contribution has come back to us many times over," Hancock said.

Legislator Hollis Upson, who is also a member of the GCEDC board of directors, also defended the agency as an important engine of economic growth in Genesee County.

"Arguably, Steve Hyde brings something of value to Genesee County," Upson said. "The compensation and bonuses came strictly from performance and results. (Staff) compensation came out of generated income"

Pointing to a previous post on The Batavian listing the salaries of the top 25 public officials in Genesee County, Upson noted 20 of the top 25 were education executives.

"The superintendents and officials at BOCES work a lot fewer hours, I would suggest, and they don't generate income," Upson said. "We are helping them (school officials) by generating a tax base.

"So while the perception would be that (Hyde makes a lot more money than other officials in the county), someone who would look at it from only that standpoint, well there's a lot more to it."

The Genesee County Economic Development Center should recover more than $344,000 in bonus payments to employees made from 2005 through 2009, according to a report issued Wednesday by New York Authorities Budget Office.

The ABO is responsible for fiscal oversight of certain local agencies, including industrial development agencies.

In a scathing report (pdf), ABO officials say that GCEDC made bonus payments that do not comply either with state law or guidelines.

In the case of one bonus payment, the report recommends the matter be referred to a local law enforcement agency for further review.

"GCIDA (aka, GCEDC) officials justified its bonus practices as proper and comparable to bonus incentive plans in use by private industry," the report reads. "GCIDA officials continue to show a lack of understanding that the GCIDA is a public entity and not a private industry."

The report is also critical of the $153,000 annual salary for Executive Directory Steve Hyde. Hyde's base salary is the highest in the state for any IDA, the report states, and significantly higher than any IDA director in Western New York, and higher by far than any other public employee in Genesee County.

In 2009, GCEDC paid out $91,000 in bonuses, with $60,000 going to Hyde.

The report is critical of how the board of directors arrived at its bonus structure, not using an individual's performance goals set at the beginning of a calendar year, but instead basing bonuses on available funds at the end of the year and whether overall group goals were met.

The report says that criteria violates a state comptroller's advisory opinion issued more than 10 years ago, though the state law governing IDA's does not specifically address bonus compensation.

According to the report, up until 2010, an informal subcommittee of the GCEDC board would meet and determine the bonus amount and structure for the agency's employees. Generally, the decision would be made in December with bonuses paid at the beginning of January. But in January 2007, more than $54,000 in bonus payments were disbursed even though the bonuses were not approved by the board until a month later.

While officials told ABO investigators that bonuses were paid based on agency performance, the report states that in 2008 the GCEDC did not meet its job creation goals, yet $91,000 in bonus payments were approved; and, for 2005, $55,000 in bonus payments were approved, even though GCEDC met neither goals for job creation nor capital investment.

For 2008 a $500 bonus was paid to a consultant even though there was no provision in the $60,000 contract for a bonus.

"Although we make no judgment as to whether such an expenditure of public funds is legal," the report reads, "we are referring this to local law enforcement officials for further review."

The report recommends that the $500 be recovered from the consultant. The consultant is not named in the report.

The report notes that Hyde's salary has increased from $82,950 in 2004 to $153,000  in 2009. In comparison, the IDA director in Orleans County earned $58,000 in 2009 and the Erie County director received $133,911. Among other Genesee County public employees, the District Attorney has the highest salary after Hyde at $118,187.

The report reads:

The GCIDA justified its practices, both in regard to bonus payments and salary structure, by referring to private industry standards and principals, and pointing out that GCIDA has its own private revenue source, and that payments are made with private funds. We are disheartened by this attitude and perspective.

The GCIDA relies extensively on Genesee County for financial support. For the five-year period 2004 through 2009, the GCIDA received more than $1.3 million in operating funds from Genesee County, almost 20 percent of its total operating revenues. Salary and compensation are part of the GCIDA's operating budget. So, directly or indirectly, the taxpayers of Genesee County contribute to the cost of supporting the GCIDA.

According to the GCEDC's 2011 program budget, anticipated revenue is $1.5 million with $266,217 coming from Genesee County. The remaining revenue is comprised of fees, grants -- including $475,000 from National Grid and $750,000 from the Town of Pembroke (over three years) -- and other unspecified sources.

The budget statement says that through August 2010, GCEDC supported 16 economic development projects, generated commitments for 50 new jobs over the next three years and $18.5 million in capital investment.

Among its ongoing projects: Gateway II, Buffalo East Technology Park, Med & Tech Park, Apple Tree Acres, Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and WNY Stamp.

Next month, the Genesee County Economic Development Center officials will hold a public information meeting to discuss preliminary results of the draft environmental impact report concerning STAMP.

That stands for Science, Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Park -- a proposed large scale, high-tech/clean-tech, manufacturing park planned near the intersection of Judge Road and Route 77 in Alabama.

The meeting will take place beginning at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Alabama Fire Hall, located at 2230 Judge Road, in Basom.

The draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) includes an economic impact study, environmental study, master plan update, traffic impact study, the utility plan summary and provisions for farmland protection.

The proposed location for STAMP, according to its supporters, is considered ideal because of immediate access to transmission level electric power, reduced cost hydropower, a high capacity gas line, and the New York State Thruway.

STAMP is being developed as a campus-like setting to attract companies which produce computer chips, flat panel display units, semiconductors or similar products. Operations of this size could provide thousands of medium- to higher-income jobs to residents of Genesee and surrounding counties.

Alabama residents will receive an informational postcard in the mail encouraging attendance to February's public informational meeting. But everyone interested in this critical project is encouraged to attend.

This information was provided by the GCEDC:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) has announced the launch of www.GreenGeneseeCounty.org -- a website to help residents and businesses conserve energy and lower utility bills.

It provides connections to rebates and incentives, educational resources, tips to manage energy consumption and find local contractors, plus it features helpful interactive tools.

A monthly newsletter with this information will also be available to residents who wish to provide their e-mail addresses on the website.

www.GreenGeneseeCounty.org will highlight local energy efficient initiatives and county news and events related to energy conservation. This includes a study on the feasibility and challenges of developing wind-power projects on six GCEDC parcels.

“Genesee County has been active in its efforts to improve its environmental performance and energy efficiency, said Christopher Suozzi of the GDEDC. "Green Genesee County supports this approach by giving our community easy access to a website, e-newsletter, and 'Ask the Expert' resources to help residents, businesses and not-for-profit organizations save money on their utility bills."

The website was developed through a partnership with Blue Springs Energy, a company that assists organizations, local governments and individuals to access clean and renewable energy grants, incentives and credits and find local green services and products.

“Blue Springs Energy is proud to support Genesee County’s efforts to help its community save money on their energy bills and help the environment,” said Larry Simpson, president of Blue Springs Energy.

“There are numerous clean energy grants and incentives available from federal, state, and utility sources, but most are difficult to find and access. The Green Genesee County website and newsletter provides useful information so that residents and businesses can take action."

Here are four recent news items from the Genesee County Economic Development Center:

• Gov. David Paterson awarded GCEDC a $3.9-million grant to upgrade the short rail line in and around the new Genesee County Agri-Business Park off of Route 5 in the Town of Batavia. The grant money comes from a 2005 bond act for transportation infrastructure in New York. The 202-acre park offers shovel ready industrial land for food processors. Business Facilities Magazine recently named Genesee and Livingston counties as the second-best food processing area in the nation, citing both the Oakta Milk Products facility and the new agri-park in its article.
• National Grid has awarded GCEDC with $275,000 in grants to further the development of the Buffalo East Tech Park in Pembroke. The 300-acre site is adjacent the Pembroke exit of the Thruway, giving the development area easy access to Buffalo and Rochester. Sixty-seven acres of the park are shovel ready for business development.
• Sale-tax exemptions totaling $12,000 were awarded to Bruce Scofield, LLC, for reopening a transfer station and recycling center at 8620 Sanders Road, Stafford. The location will serve area residents and businesses with a facility to dispose of waste and recyclables. The facility has been approved by the DEC to receive 150 tons of solid waste per day and 75 tons of recyclables per day. For every $1 of tax exemption, the project is expected to return $141 in public benefit over the next 10 years. Scofield will invest $150,000 in the project.
• Pineyard Acres, LLC, of 6256 Clinton St. Road, Stafford, is receiving a $29,500 property-tax exemption, a $14,600 sales-tax exemption and a $4,000 mortgage-tax exemption for expansion of its business from 1,400 square feet to 5,600 square feet. For every $1 of tax exemption, the local economy should receive $210 in public benefit over the next 10 years, according to the GCEDC.  Pineyard Acres is expected to invest $335,000 in the expansion.

There will be an open house for the new School of Nursing facilities at MedTech Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 20.

Genesee Community College and Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will jointly celebrate the opening of the Dr. Bruce A. Holm Upstate MedTech Centre.

It includes the college's new School of Nursing, the headquarters of GCEDC and the Physical Therapy Department of United Memorial Medical Center.

Community members are invited for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours and hands-on demonstrations of the brand-new classrooms and laboratories.

Genesee's School of Nursing occupies the entire second floor of the new MedTech Centre building. The new 20,000-square-foot-facility includes a lecture hall, conference rooms, and three state-of-the-art nursing labs for hands-on, experiential learning.

There's also a student and employee gathering room with tables, a vending area and lockers, which allow students and staff to study, relax or socialize between classes. Faculty and administrative offices also occupy the second floor.

"The college's nursing program recently increased its enrollment, helping address a nationwide demand for more registered nurses," said Kathy Palumbo, director of Genesee's Nursing program. "This new facility exemplifies both the college and business community's commitment to a stronger healthcare workforce.

"We are grateful to all the public officials, private citizens, supporters of the college as well as our dedicated students and faculty who helped make these state-of-the-art facilities a reality."

The open house will welcome Genesee's wide-reaching Nursing Program alumni as well as the nursing faculty and advisory council, Genesee's president, Stuart Steiner, Ed.D, board of trustee members, elected officials and representatives from the GDEDC (which occupies part of the first floor of the building).

"This is an exciting time for GCEDC and Genesee Community College," said Steven Hyde, president and CEO of the GCEDC. "We are not only welcoming the nurses of tomorrow to this brand-new facility, ... we look forward to working collaboratively with the college and other organizations to develop new jobs for our region in the burgeoning new field of medical technology."

The ribbon cutting and School of Nursing open house program includes:

3 p.m. -- Doors open for the Open House

4 p.m. -- Ribbon cutting and brief welcome and acknowledgments by MedTech and college officials

4:30-6:30 p.m. -- Facility tours, School of Nursing demonstrations

An assortment of refreshments will be provided at the reception, including the college's new bottled "Cougar Water."

For further information or to RSVP to the GCC School of Nursing open house and reception please call Patty Hume at 585-343-0055, ext. 6234.

When it comes to tax incentive packages, Genesee County has a few advantages over Monroe County, because of programs available targeted specifically for rural counties, according to Chris Suozzi, VP of business development for the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

So when Brothers International announced it was abandoning Batavia, where it was founded in 2001, for Rochester, Souzzi concluded it wasn't purely a business decision.

"In my mind it was more of a personal decision on where they wanted to locate the company," Souzzi said.

We have a call into Travis Betters at Brothers International to get his take on the relocation decision.

Souzzi said he last met with Brothers six months ago and presented a side-by-side comparison of the Genesee County package with the Monroe County package. He said it "opened their eyes" about what Genesee County had to offer and was under the impression they would "stay put in Batavia."

He didn't learn of the decision by Brothers to move until Monroe County put out a press release about the location change.

While the current Brothers location is in an empire zone, to date the company has received no tax assistance through GCEDC, Souzzi said.

Hunting. Somebody wanted to know today how the proposed STAMP project in Alabama will impact hunting in the area.

Lonra Klotzbach raised the question and noted, "I'm not sure that in most communities' experience that hunting and the impact of such development makes would be as big as a concern as it is in this area."

"That's a good suggestion," said Roger Person, the consultant heading up the environmental review process for the project. "We are doing a threatened and endangered species assessment, but that's not what you're suggesting, so why don't we add that to our scoping document to consider the impacts on hunting grounds."

Earlier, Klotzbach started a discussion about how today's informational meeting -- and one like it on Thursday -- is not required by the environmental review process.

The purpose of today's meeting, as Person noted, was to better define the scope of what the environmental review will cover, and the hunting question illustrated how such an informational meeting can help the consultants better understand unique local issues.

Legally, the only time public input is required is during a public hearing after the draft environmental impact report is written.

For the STAMP project, the Genesee County Economic Development Center is holding four meetings during the review process -- the one today, one this past Thursday and two while the environmental report is being drafted.

Besides hunting, today's meeting uncovered concerns about storm drainage, the impact on the volunteer fire department, traffic and agriculture, as well as what additional impact further housing development might have.

"I think it's exactly what we expect," said Chad Zambito, spokesman for GCEDC. "Take the first meetings we had here and add these, and I think we've seen an evolution of understanding and a growing trust between residents here, and this is what we want -- we want good, honest, open dialogue."

About 30 people attended today's meeting, and Zambito said about 80 people were at Thursday's meeting.

Genesee County residents who wish provide comments to the environmental review process can write to the WNY STAMP Project c/o GCEDC, One Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020. Comments must be received by March 5.

Previously:

• Three major projects in the pipeline show promise of bringing industry back home
• Keep Alabama rural is local farmer's plea

This article is based on information provided by the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) about the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park or STAMP project:

Next week, the GCEDC will hold two informational meetings regarding the environmental review process for the STAMP project.

Those meetings will be held at 7 p.m Thursday, Feb.11 and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13  at the Alabama Town Fire Hall located on Judge Road.

They will include an overview of the project’s activities to date, as well as a review of the environmental process required pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

The proposed draft-scoping document will be explained. It is used to guide the preparation of a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the project. This will eventually become a Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement that, along with a findings statement, will complete the SEQRA requirements.

Although next week's public meetings are not required by SEQRA, the GCEDC has agreed to hold them to encourage community input during the initial stages of the SEQRA process. They offer residents a chance to learn about and discuss project issues, but comments can also be provided in writing until March 5. Written comments should be mailed to: GCEDC, 1 Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020.

WNY STAMP is a large-scale, advanced-manufacturing site modeled after Luther Forest Technology Park located in Saratoga County (which recently landed semiconductor chipmaker Global Foundries/Advanced Micro Devices’ latest expansion). According to Forest tech park’s website, the $4.6 billion project will bring 1,465 jobs to the Capital Region. 

GCEDC President and CEO Steve Hyde believes that a similar project could help revitalize WNY.

At full build-out, which could take up to 25 years, estimates project the site will be home to 9,300 workers with a large majority of skilled and semi-skilled workers earning starting wages that pay between $40,000 and $45,000 annually.

“The STAMP project is a transformational project that could redefine the employment scene in WNY by helping to stop the 'brain drain' by providing future generations the chance to find good-paying jobs right in their own back yard," Hyde said. "The site has all the attributes that high-technology companies seek as highlighted by the feasibility study completed in 2008 by the global firm CH2M HILL.”

The feasibility study identified several high-tech industries as a good potential fit for the STAMP site, including photovoltaic panel (solar panel) and semiconductor (computer chip) manufacturing. The site is surrounded by industrial-class infrastructure including redundant electric transmission lines. It also sits in the New York Power Authority’s hydropower zone, meaning companies that locate there would be eligible for low-cost power allocation.

The site is five miles north of I-90 exit 48A, which makes it easily accessible to workers from both Buffalo and Rochester, New York’s second- and third-largest cities, respectively, with a combined workforce of more than 1.1 million people.

There are four phases in the site-planning process.

Phase I included the feasibility study and community survey, which yielded a 42-percent response rate with 78 percent of residents favoring further exploration of the project. Phase II consists largely of environmental assessment and engineering efforts. Phase II work has been funded by a $1 million state grant, which received bi-partisan support from both senators Bill Stachowski and Mike Ranzenhofer as well as funding from National Grid.

Phase III focuses on implementation, should a project commit to the site. Phase IV concerns management of the site at full build-out.

The environmental review process officially began on Dec. 22 when the GCEDC Board of Directors voted to seek lead-agency status for the project. Last week, the GCEDC declared itself the lead agency after no other entities objected. The lead agency directs the SEQRA process, which includes several opportunities for public input.

The process is also being guided by an advisory committee comprised of members of the GCEDC, the Genesee County Planning Department, the Alabama Town Board and the Alabama Town Planning Board. In preparing a draft-scoping document, the advisory committee has worked with legal counsel that includes Harris Beach and Phillips Lytle, technology planners and engineering experts from IDC Architects/CH2M, HILL and Clark Patterson Lee, and environmental consultants from Conservation Connects.

This document will address potential impacts and the analyses will be reviewed in the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement. It will be available for review Feb. 4 at the Alabama Town Hall on Judge Road in Alabama. It will also be available at the GCEDC’s office on Mill Street in Batavia and on its website, www.gcedc.com.

The GCEDC will schedule other public hearings for the draft EIR and the Town of Alabama may also conduct meetings as part of its future zoning-review process for the project.

There's rural aplenty in these parts, but it doesn't get much more rural than Alabama.

With its wildlife refuge, Native American reservation, its hundreds of acres of open space, farmland and roads that can stretch for a mile or two between houses, Alabama is something like the wide-open West of Genesee County.

All of that could change -- or at least that's the fear of some Alabama residents -- if the GCEDC is able to push through plans to develop a high-tech industrial part over 1,300 acres in Alabama.

Alabama farmer Bryan Phelps -- who's grandfather started farming in Alabama in 1919 -- gave an impassioned speech to the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday arguing against the GCEDC's plans.

The project, known as STAMP, for Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, would forever alter the rural nature of Alabama, Phelps said.

"If you bring the STAMP program to the Town of Alabama then the same thing will happen here that happened in Clarence and Lancaster," Phelps said.  "I know you might think nothing will happen, but it will be here and the houses will come and the farms will disappear and residential growth will occur, and our taxes go up and restrictions on farming practices increase."

Sure, we need the jobs, Phelps said, but at what cost?

GCEDC has projected that STAMP will create hundreds of jobs in the $15 to $25 per hour range, plus management positions that pay as much as $200,000 and add $500 million to the county's tax base.

Those are hard numbers to ignore, Phelps acknowledged, but he doesn't think farmland needs to be destroyed to make them happen. There are plenty of old, empty industrial buildings in Batavia and elsewhere in Western New York that can be renovated.

“It’s been said that rural development leads to rural destruction," Phelps said. "When development or destruction of rural farmland takes place, the needs for such services as schools, sewers, garbage collection, police forces, traffic control and water delivery go way up."

It's not hard to imagine housing development following STAMP, followed by new chain-laden shopping centers and pretty soon, you have Lancaster or Clarence.

Phelps wants none of that, and he said many Town of Alabama residents share his concerns.

The third-generation farmer found a sympathetic ear in Legislator Ed DeJaneiro, who sat down with Phelps after the Ways and Means Committee meeting was over and commiserated.

But DeJaneiro also noted, Genesee County needs jobs.

"I agree with him we on many of his concerns about this program," DeJaneiro said. "Prospective companies come in relying on tax dollars and end up using valuable land, but if we don't do it, somebody else will. We do need the jobs, so it's not as clear cut as he says."

Ray Cianfrini, who represents Alabama in the County Legislature, is pretty enthusiastic about the STAMP project and believes most Alabama residents support it.

"The land (for the project) is not considered the most productive land in Alabama,"  Cianfrini said. "It's owned by three of the largest farmers in our area. They certainly apparently had no reservations in taking the land out of production."

The final say on whether to approve the project, Cianfrini, will lie with the Town of Alabama board.

A landlord in Stafford is receiving a $36,837 tax exemption to expand the building on its land, the GCEDC announced today.

BGW Properties, LLC, owns the land and building that is currently leased by Fastenall, a wholesale distribution company.

Fastenall has run out of space at the facility and was looking for a new location. The tax break will help BGW add 4,000 square feet to the building and keep Fastenall as a tenant.

The exemptions come in the form $5,600 in sales tax relief, a $1,375 mortgage tax exemption and a $29,862 property tax exemption.

BGW is expected to invest $110,000 in the expansion, and GCEDC estimates that the multiplier effect for the local economy is $47 for each dollar of tax relief.

Toyota of Batavia is investing $975,000 to expand its dealership, and to help the project along, the Genesee County Economic Development Center is providing a $7,500 tax incentive.

The project was first approved for benefits on Feb. 21, 2008.  But the actual benefit was approved this week.

The dealership is mortgaging its property for $600,000 to help pay for the project. GCEDC is providing the mortgage-tax exemption.

The GCEDC estimates that for every $1 of tax benefit, the community is realizing $616 of investment by the company.

The dealership is located at 3899 W. Main St. Road in the Town of Batavia.

There may be gold in the hills between routes 5 and 63 on the east side of the Town of Batavia.

At least that's the impression left from this morning's groundbreaking for an agri-business park being made "shovel ready" under the guidance of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

The $6 million project could lead to millions in revenue growth for the county, and as much as a $40 million annual payroll for as many as 1,200 workers.

The return on investment, according to GCEDC CEO Steve Hyde could be as much as 30-1 -- $30 gained in the local economy for every $1 spent on the project.

"This is a story of a vision that is really becoming reality," Hyde said.

Construction actually began two weeks ago and while only one Canadian food processor is among the future planned tenants, Hyde said he is confident several more companies will gain interest in the project once the economy turns around.

He said he expects future tenants to invest as much as $230 million in private capital to build their facilities.

He said the agri-business park is the first of its kind in the Northeast and brings together a confluence of factors that should be attractive -- inexpensive, easily accessed water, inexpensive power, a rail line and trucking routes.

The project is the result of GCEDC helping to bring together public and private funding to raise the $6 million to make the 200-acre park shovel ready (grading, building roads, bringing infrastructure), with contributors including the state and Town of Batavia as well as Farm Credit of Western New York.

New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton (pictured, inset) called the project near and dear to his heart.

"It's a prime example of what state agencies and private groups can do when they get together and work for the betterment of agriculture," Norton said.