On Sept. 9 local, state and federal officials announced $10.5 million in federal funding to assist businesses in Chautauqua County during the COVID-19 pandemic. From left to right – Assemblyman Andrew Goodell; Joel Frushone, EDA Director – Office of External Affairs; Anthony Foti, Intergovernmental Affairs Director – U.S. Department of Commerce; Richard Dixon, CFO – County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency; Congressman Tom Reed; Senator George Borrello; County Executive Paul Wendel; Mayor Wilfred Rosas; Crystal Surdyk, Interim Director of Development for the City of Jamestown; Michael Metzger, Chairman of the Board for the CCIDA and VP for Finance and Administration at SUNY Fredonia.

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has allocated more than half of the federal CARES Act money it recently received to assist businesses throughout the county during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September, The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the county IDA was selected to receive a $10.5 million grant to establish a new, low-interest Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). Both businesses and non-profit organizations are allowed to apply for the funding as a means to respond to economic injury resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As currently established, the new RLF provides loans of no less than $25,000 and not to exceed $1 Million, and working capital loans of up to $250,000, with an interest rate of 2.44% (the lowest allowed).

The first round of funding – totaling more than $5.7 million, was awarded during the Tuesday IDA board meeting – going to 28 businesses and non-profit entities.

Of the 28 loan approvals, six of them covered more than half the total amount being borrowed:

• $700,000 to SKB Auto Sales (Fredonia)
• $646,650 to Big Inlet Brewing (Mayville)
• $500,000 to Cockaigne Resort (Cherry Creek)
• $494,460 to Artone (Jamestown)
• $375,000 to Heritage Ministries (Gerry)
• $375,000 to Advanced Production Group (Dunkirk)

The remaining loans were as follows:

• $322,000 to Luscombe Aircraft Corporation (Jamestown)
• $250,000 to La Quinta/ Holiday Inn Express/ Hampton Inn (Jamestown)
• $227,000 to Pace’s Pizzeria (Jamestown)
• $200,000 to Webb’s Candies, Inc./ Webb’s Motel Inc. (Mayville)
• $182,183 to Kimbert Manufacturing dba Barton Tool Inc. (Falconer)
• $125,000 to Ark Wholesale, LLC (Fredonia)
• $125,000 to Brigiottas Farmland Produce & Garden Center Inc. (Jamestown)
• $125,000 to Corvus Bus & Charter, Inc. (Falconer)
• $125,000 to Excelco/Newbrook, Inc. (Silver Creek)
• $125,000 to Falconer Hotel, LLC (Falconer)
• $125,000 to International Ordnance Technologies (Jamestown)
• $125,000 to Pucci Carpet One Furniture & Bedding, Inc. (Fredonia)
• $115,000 to Shawbucks, Inc. (Jamestown)
• $125,000 to Webb’s Harbor Restaurant and Bowling Lanes, Inc. (Mayville)
• $87,500 to Bilicki Law Firm, PC (Jamestown)
• $85,000 to Skate Shop (Jamestown)
• $75,000 to The Original Crunch Roll Factory, LLC (Westfield)
• $41,000 to Merritt Estate Winery, Inc. (Forestville)
• $35,000 to Ivory Acres Weddings LLC (Frewsburg)
• $25,000 to Uhl Ventures LLC dba Servpro of Jamestown/Olean (Jamestown)

IDA Director Mark Geise reminds businesses that the application and program details are still currently available, and urges anyone interested in applying to contact the CCIDA office at 661-8900.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell; Joel Frushone, EDA Director – Office of External Affairs; Anthony Foti, Intergovernmental Affairs Director – U.S. Department of Commerce; Richard Dixon, CFO – County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency; Congressman Tom Reed; Senator George Borrello; County Executive Paul Wendel; Mayor Wilfred Rosas; Crystal Surdyk, Interim Director of Development for the City of Jamestown; Michael Metzger, Chairman of the Board for the CCIDA and VP for Finance and Administration at SUNY Fredonia.

JAMESTOWN – The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency will receive $10.5 million in federal funding to set up a low-interest revolving loan fund to support local small businesses and non profits impacted by COVID-19.

The announcement was made this afternoon at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel by Anthony Foti, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Foti said the funding being allocated by the Federal Economic Development Administration and comes from nearly $20 million in federal aid for the entire western New York region. He added that while other communities and counties across the region will also receive funding, the largest sum was given to Chautauqua County.

Also in attendance was U.S. Congressman Tom Reed, along with State Senator George Borrello, Assemblyman Andy Goodell, County Executive PJ Wendel, Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas, and Jamestown Development Director Crystal Surdyk, who was representing Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist.

Reed explained the money will help to keep businesses open during a challenging and uncertain time.

“We were proud to support this grant because we care about all the businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs who have been severely impacted by the economic and public health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Reed. “By deploying the federal capital employers need to weather this crisis, we can ensure our local economy will rebound stronger than ever. Congratulations to CCIDA and the Chautauqua County team on their work to help the community and preserve local jobs.”

As for the details of the loan program, IDA Chief Financial Officer Richard Dixon said any small business in the county, including non profits, will be eligible to apply for funding, which will then have to be paid back at 2.4% interest.

“As part of the application process, CCIDA Staff created a detailed plan for deploying the funds in a way that provides flexibility for recipients as well as timeliness in deploying the funding in order to accelerate economic recovery within the County.  The newly-established RLF Program will be available to a wide-range of industry sectors, including professional services, non-profits, and other sectors that have previously been excluded from receiving CCIDA loan funds. As currently established, the RLF will provide loans of no less than $25,000 and not to exceed $1 Million, and working capital loans of up to $250,000, with an interest rate of 2.44%,” Dixon noted.

IDA officials say the application and program details are currently available by contacting their office at 661-8900.

320 Roberts Road Freezer and Fieldbrook Foods representatives gather at the new freezer site with Chautauqua County, CCIDA, and City of Dunkirk officials Rich Dixon and Kristine Morabito of CCIDA; Rebecca Yanus, Randy Woodbury and Mayor Wilfred Rosas of the City of Dunkirk; Peter Wilson and Peter Krog of 320 Roberts Road Freezer; Robin Galloway of Fieldbrook Foods; Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello; Bob Griewisch of Fieldbrook Foods; Mark Geise of Chautauqua County & CCIDA (Image courtesy of Chautauqua County IDA)

DUNKIRK – There’s good development news for the city of Dunkirk.

Deputy Chautauqua County Executive for Economic Development and CEO of the County Industrial Development Agency Mark Geise announced earlier this week that construction of the new cold storage warehouse for Fieldbrook Foods at 320 South Roberts Road is now underway.

The project is taking place at the former Edgewood Warehouse Brownfield Site in the City of Dunkirk.
The revitalization project includes acquisition, remediation, new construction and equipping of a new 80,000 square foot freezer warehouse.

The new $16 million facility will provide off-site storage for Fieldbrook Foods’ finished frozen dessert products.

As part of the project, the IDA provided Sales Tax and Mortgage Recording Tax Exemptions along with a 20-year PILOT Agreement for real property taxes.

Approximately 150 construction jobs are projected, and 6-10 new permanent warehouse jobs will be created over the next 3 years.

The new freezer will begin operations this fall.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

Originally airing Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018.

WRFA Public Affairs Director Jason Sample talks with Mark Geise, CEO of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and Richard Dixon, CFO of the IDA, to share details on how the IDA functions and what it does to help with economic development in the county, as well as highlight some recent projects.

Mark Geise (left) and Richard Dixon from the Chautauqua County IDA

The IDA Board of Directors and Staff in January 2017, one month after the completion of the 2016 fiscal year.

ALBANY – When compared to all other Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) across New York State, the Chautauqua County IDA gave away significantly more tax breaks and also spent significantly more money in administrative expenses for each net job the county gained in 2016.

That’s according to data released Friday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

• READ THE FULL 2016 IDA REPORT

The report, which focuses on financial and employment statistics for IDAs across the state (county, town, city, and village IDAs), showed there was a total of 208,700 net jobs gained in New York through various IDA projects across the state, with Long Island achieving nearly 25 percent of the statewide total.  IDAs in upstate regions accounted for 43 percent of the total net jobs gained. In Western New York, IDAs helped the region gain 19,700 net jobs, or 9.4 percent of the statewide total.

However, Chautauqua County’s IDA projects in 2016 resulted in just 319 net jobs gained in the county. That accounts for just 1.6 percent of the total net jobs gain for the entire WNY region.

In addition to jobs gained, the report also offered information on net tax exemptions provided by all of the state’s IDAs. During 2016, $715 million in net tax exemptions were given out. Meanwhile, total expenses for all IDAs in New York was $125 million.

When compared to other 57 county IDAs across the state, the Chautauqua County IDA ranked 40th out 57 in the category of net jobs gained, yet ranked 5th out 57 when it came to expenses.

The report showed that Chautauqua County IDA expenses were $4.6 million in 2016. The Net Tax Exemptions given out in the county were $7.9 million, ranking it 16th out of 57 county IDAs in the state. The total project count was 41, ranking 18th.

Put another way, the Chautauqua County IDA spent $14,400 and provided $24,700 in tax breaks for each net job gained in 2016.

For comparison, all IDAs in New York State spent $600 and provided $3,425 in tax breaks for each net job gained during the same time period. In Western New York, all IDAs spent $700 and provided $2,990 in tax breaks for each net job gained.

Bottom line, the county spent significantly more and gave away significantly more tax breaks for each job gained, compared to the state average.

The Chautauqua County IDA executive director in 2016 was Kevin Sandvidge, who remained at the helm through last year. It saw a change in leadership earlier this year with the appointment of Mark Geise as Executive Director.

“IDA projects continue to produce new jobs across the state, but the pace has slowed in several upstate areas,” said DiNapoli. “Across New York there are nearly 4,500 IDA projects valued at $96 billion currently underway. In today’s economy, it is important communities benefit when offering tax breaks. Our report can help determine if the incentives supporting local economic development efforts are worth it.”

A passenger excursion train, like the Delaware & Ulster Railroad service in Delaware County, NY (pictured), could be in Jamestown’s future, linking the city with Buffalo, 70 miles to the north. (Image courtesy of ScenicRailroadExcursions.com)

JAMESTOWN – City officials say funding is now in place to move forward with a feasibility study into bringing an excursion train to Jamestown.

On Thursday Jamestown Development Director Vince DeJoy said that after two long years of trying to put together enough partners to fund the feasibility and implementation study with the City of Jamestown for the Western New York Regional Rail Project Feasibility Study, the city now has successfully assembled enough funds to do so.  The city has committed up to $30,000 of its own money for the project, with another $27,500 coming from a variety of sources, including the Industrial Development Agencies in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Erie County Counties.

Additionally, the City of Jamestown has been awarded a $670,000 grant from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative for a project to install necessary railroad infrastructure to support the advancement of a regional excursion train connecting Buffalo and Niagara Falls at the Gateway Station in Jamestown that is now The National Comedy Center and Comedy Center Park.

As a result, a special “signing ceremony” is scheduled for next week, along with a meeting to further discuss the study.