START-UP Genesee

The business community is invited to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Harvester Center in Batavia, the world's first business incubator.

In partnership with Start-Up Genesee, which is the networking event coordinator, and the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, the anniversary celebration will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15. The address is 22 Masse Place.

These organizations are thrilled to have such a unique and forward-thinking facility in our county.

Catering will be provided by D & R Depot Restaurant.

There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

Click here to find out more and click the button on the right side of the page to register. Or call 343-2800.

If you are thinking about starting a busimess or have a great idea, or maybe you'd just like to see what entrepreneurship is all about, then take a tour of Downtown Batavia businesses on Thursday, June 21, and hear local stories about starting and operating a small business.

You're invited to a START-UP Genesee "Think & Drink" Entrepreneurial Series Event. Meet at Eli Fish Brewing Company. Walking tour is free. Food and drink will be provided.

Time is 4 to 6 p.m.

RSVP by contacting Rahcel Tabelski at 343-4866 or at  rtabelski@gcedc.com

This event is hosted by the START-UP Genesee Business Assistance Team.

Great opportunity to network and take your ideas and business to the next level!

Press release:

Start-Up Genesee will hold the next “Think & Drink” event from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31^st at The Harvester Center at 56 Harvester Ave. in Batavia, NY. 

The launch of the Think and Drink series hosted by Start-Up Genesee officially kicked off on Sept. 1 at The Harvester Center where regional business leaders and elected officials gathered to recognize and celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in Genesee County.

“A lot has happened at the Harvester Center since the last Think and Drink event was launched almost a year ago,” said Tom Mancuso, owner of Mancuso Business Development Group. “I think this speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit of our community and the fact that this facility and space helps bring out that type of creative thinking.”

Guests are asked to meet at the Moon Java Café, which will be followed by tours of businesses and viewings of available space as well as demonstrations of the various business services available at the Harvester Makerspace. This event is free and open to the public.

The tour will include remarks from business owners, Renee Smart of Moon Java Café and James Dillon of the Harvester Makerspace. They will provide insight and share their experiences on how entrepreneurs can successfully work in shared spaces.

Resurgence Brewing Company, which recently announced it is opening a brewery in Batavia at Ellicott Station, will provide samples of its various craft beer selections. Resurgence specializes in making sour, wild and barrel-aged craft beers.

Sponsors for the event include Canandaigua National Bank & Trust, FreedMaxick, Merrill Lynch, Del Plato Casey Law Firm LLP, the University at Buffalo New York State Center of Excellence in Material Informatics and Bioinformatics & Life Sciences, Tompkins Bank of Castile and Tompkins Insurance.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Rachael Tabelski at 585-343-4866 or rtabelski@gcedc.com.

Press release:

The next START-UP Genesee Think and Drink event will take place at Genesee Community College (GCC) featuring small business resources and access to capital specialists. The FREE event is the fourth of series of networking opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business professionals. The event hosted by GCC will take place in Room T119 from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 20.

The program will include remarks by the following:

• Barb Shine, a leadership development trainer and serial entrepreneur. Shine will offer highlights of GCC’s upcoming Small Business Ownership Series, a program recommended for all entrepreneurs as well as current managers of small business.
• Peter M. Casey, Esq., who is a START-UP Genesee sponsor and partner at DelPlato Casey Law LLP and Batavia Development Corporation Board officer, will address legal considerations when starting a business.
• Leanna DiRisio, The Hidden Door owner, and Sam Campanella, certified business adviser for the Small Business Development Center, will share their stories about starting and growing a business.

“The course was intentionally designed for the busy self-starter who might be wondering where to begin or for the early stage operator needing a little more guidance,” Shine said. “Our goal is to shape an action plan for your business initiative.”

“It’s vital to consider the business structure as you enter a venture and equally critical to protect your assets,” said Casey.

Representatives from local banking institutions will be on hand and other creative lending sources will be on display.

START-UP Genesee is intended to assist all types of businesses from early stage planning to site selection, access to capital and product development or diversification.

The Think and Drink series is sponsored by:

• Canandaigua National Bank
• Tompkins Bank of Castile Insurance Agencies
• Feed Maxick CPAs
• Merrill Lynch of Batavia
• University at Buffalo New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, Life Sciences and Material Informatic
• Del Plato Casey LLP

Sometime in 2017, there may be beer on tap in the former JJ Newberry building on Main Street, Downtown Batavia.

Matt Gray (top photo, pointing toward the back of the room to his partner in the Batavia Brewing Co. venture, Jon Mager) made the announcement during a Start Up Genesee event at the location yesterday, and said that the Fresh Labs concept for the Newberry building is ready to go forward.

The blueprints are in place, permits pulled and a contractor selected and Gray believes all of the work -- a brewery, a restaurant and two additional full kitchens for start-up restaurants along with seven apartments on the second and third floors -- will be completed by the end of the year.

The Fresh Labs concept was taken on by Gray and Mager in cooperation with the Batavia Development Corp. to help achieve several local goals, he said -- bring more people downtown, provide a way for aspiring restaurateurs to start their businesses and help the city retain some of the $28 million being spent by local residents on food and entertainment in Rochester and Buffalo. 

Gray said Fresh Lab will give people looking to break into the restaurant business a supportive environment throughout the process of developing a concept, getting it launched and helping it grow.

"We want to take the person who has the drive and the skill and work them through the point where they're ready to launch," Gray said. "We will give them direction and resources but then we don't walk way."

Julie Pacatte, economic development coordinator for BDC, said the BDC is working on a competition, sort of a taste challenge, as part of selecting the first two businesses that will be given space in Fresh Lab.

The building, which was a mortuary before it was Newberry's (it was Newberry's for 70 years), is three stories high with a large basement. Each level is 10,000 square feet. There will be seven studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors. Those floors were once office space for doctors, lawyers and at one time, Batavia Area Jaycees, according to the sign on one door.

Start Up Genesee is organized by Genesee County Economic Development Center and this was the initiative's third event. Bob Capurso was at the first, where he spoke with Chris Suozzi about the business idea he had: producing Boy Scout grave marker medallions. Suozzi, a VP with GCEDC, helped connect Capurso with advisors who were able to assist him in getting his business launched. He's gone from a concept six months ago, to a design to a prototype and now he's had the first 50 medallions produced and ready for sale. 

“My main goal on this is not to make a ton of money on this, but to get the commemoration out there to the people who earned it through their dedication to scouting,” he said.

Another local start-up at the event was Eichenfeld LLC, makers of the game MöbileSchlägen. The company will hold a Kickstarter fundraising campaign this Saturday at City Slickers starting at 7 p.m.

Press release:

START-UP Genesee will once again bring together entrepreneurs from throughout the region for another networking opportunity as part of its Think and Drink series.

The event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 22^nd from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Innovation Zone at 99 MedTech Drive, Batavia. The event is free and open to entrepreneurs with ideas or business plans to incubate the next great product or service from the region.

Guest speakers include Don Warrant of Freed Maxick CPAs, Leslie Bamann of High Tech Rochester and assistant VP and Business Banking officer at Canandaigua Bank, and Georgann Carrubba, founder & CEO of TenCar Inc. There will also be a product showcase in drone technology, 3-D printing, and medical device product displays.

START-UP Genesee is intended to assist all types of businesses from early stage planning to site selection, access to capital and product development or diversification.

The series is being sponsored by various local businesses including Canandaigua National Bank, Tompkins Bank of Castile Insurance Agencies, Feed Maxick CPAs, Merrill Lynch of Batavia the University at Buffalo New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, Life Sciences and Material Informatics, and Del Plato Casey LLP.

Project organizers see the START-UP Genesee seminar series as a necessary starting point for prospective entrepreneurs to navigate what could become a complicated road to success.

But, ultimately, it is the funding component of this partnership among local and state agencies that will generate the fuel to enable new businesses to survive and thrive.

As reported on Tuesday in The Batavian, START-UP Genesee has been formed to assist all types of businesses from early stage planning to site selection, access to capital and product development or diversification.

The initiative will kick off with an open house at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Harvester Center, 22 Masse Place, Batavia, and continue with six programs for entrepreneurs every other month starting in November.

The Batavia Development Corp. and the Genesee County Economic Development Center are two of the eight agencies that have come together to set START-UP Genesee in motion.

BDC Coordinator Julie Pacatte and GCEDC Marketing Director Rachael Tabelski believe the effort will produce results largely due to the current funding streams available to entrepreneurs.

“At the BDC, we primarily work with microenterprise – start-ups with five or fewer employees -- and we have had a lot of success with the 'Get Underway' grant program,” Pacatte said, noting that numerous start-ups have taken advantage of City of Batavia microenterprise grants.

Pacatte added that BDC directors are exploring programs that provide more programming, including mentorship and ongoing improvement strategies.

Tabelski touts the GCEDC’s commitment to entrepreneurship, calling it one of her employer’s three pillars of economic development, and she dismisses suggestions that the agency only doles out tax breaks to businesses.

“We administer loan funds, and can point someone in the direction of the Batavia Development Corporation or the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce for smaller ‘micro’ loans,” she said.

Both Pacatte and Tabelski have high praise for the START-UP NY program offered through Genesee Community College.

“As far as tax incentives, START-UP NY is basically a feeder program that helps (entrepreneurs) move in the right direction,” Pacatte said. “It’s a key component in Genesee County, thanks to the efforts of William Emm, (executive vice president of planning and institutional effectiveness), who is the architect of the GCC START-UP NY plan.”

Tabelski said that “entrepreneurship is the key to employing more people and a way to get tax incentives through START-UP NY at GCC.”

“The idea of START-UP Genesee is to find out if someone has an idea that could turn into a viable business plan and be eligible for space."

START-UP NY offers new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses in New York State.  GCC has designated 50.6 acres of vacant land at the Batavia campus as well as 19,678 square feet of vacant space at the Dansville campus.

The college targets businesses in agribusiness, advanced manufacturing, technology, energy development (bio-digesters and advanced energy management systems) and agricultural research. For further information on the qualifications for the START-UP NY program and the application process, go to: http://startup-ny.com/

Additional grant funding is available through New York State’s Consolidated Funding Application and Empire State Development, and through programs such as 43 North in Buffalo and Hi-Tech Rochester’s Venture Challenge.

Tabelski said that Batavian Georgeann Carrubba, who came up with an invention to help those with ostomy bags, was “shepherded” by the GCEDC’s Innovation Zone, which provides access to “venture capital folks and enables businesses to scale up more quickly.”

In related developments:

Pacatte said that her agency has submitted grant requests to ESD for Ellicott Station remedial work, and received CFA funding last year to study the feasibility of subdividing the 20-acre core Harvester Park, encompassing parts of Harvester Avenue, Masse Place and Swan Street.

She said that Samuel Savarino, developer of Ellicott Station, is closing in on a couple of tenants – one to operate an entertainment/retail destination and the other two to lease office space. 

The Harvester Park plan will be revealed in the next 30 days, she said, adding that owners of the land on Swan Street that has been considered as a possible site for a new City of Batavia police headquarters, had been talking about developing the parcel “before the police conversation came up.”