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Home > About BNE > Press Room > 2007 Archive > October > GCEDC Receives Grant for Ag Park

GCEDC Receives $3 Million Grant for Ag Park

Rochester, NY…Governor Eliot Spitzer announced this afternoon that the Genesee County Economic Development Center has been awarded a $3 Million grant to help construct infrastructure for the Genesee Valley Agri-Manufacturing Park. The park, which is located between Routes 5 and 63 in Batavia, sits in close proximity to Oakta Milk Products. When completed, the site will contain nearly 200 "Shovel Ready" acres that will be serviced by industrial class electric, gas and rail. The park also has access to 6 million gallons of aquifer water daily, ideal for food production applications.

While making the announcement at Midtown Plaza in Rochester, the Governor recognized recent success in Genesee County, citing the award received by the Batavia Micropolitan Area as the top micropolitan in the northeast for 2005 and 2006 as established by Site Selection Magazine. Spitzer also recognized the region’s commitment to agriculture. The grant was one of three agriculture related grants awarded in the Rochester region with $1 Million being awarded to the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva, Ontario County and $750,000 aimed at organic grape farming inYates County.

The grant is the largest single award received by the GCEDC, according to President and CEO, Steve Hyde. "This grant is the culmination of 3 and a half years of hard work and countywide collaboration and represents the single largest economic development grant received in our history," said Hyde. By comparison, the GCEDC received $2.2 Million though 11 separate grant awards during 2006. "This demonstrates a significant commitment by the state to assist in capacity building by providing strategically critical investments. The Governor’s office and Dan Gunderson, the upstate Chairman of Empire State Development, had both stated their commitment to support strategic industry clusters and this certainly solidifies that commitment" Hyde added.

The GCEDC reached an agreement to purchase the land from a private citizen this summer. The $3 Million dollar state investment is expected to be matched with a combination of county and private funding. Ground breaking could take place as early as spring of 2008.

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