News
Past Year Marked With Major Accomplishments
Posted on July 18, 2008
Another year has come and gone but not without some great accomplishments for the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce. New initiatives led the way this year including the Leadership Wyoming program that graduated its first group of 21 individuals who are more knowledgeable about all facets of Wyoming County and are bursting with enthusiasm to get involved in their community. The Chamber has also been administering the Empire Zone program through the Wyoming County Business Center and played a role in certifying Wyoming County’s first three Empire Zone businesses. American Classic Outfitters, Koike Aronson and Steel & O’Brien are now all poised to begin receiving some attractive tax credits and exemptions when they start their expansion projects. The Chamber also coordinated and sponsored the first annual “Pride in Agriculture” dinner that recognized the strength and importance of agriculture in Wyoming County. Over 300 people were in attendance with a waiting list of 65 who wanted to be there. The Chamber’s Agriculture Committee partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Wyoming County Farm Bureau and Wyoming County Water and Soil for this great event.
Rounding out a list of proud accomplishments in the Annual Report is a list of business development projects that the Chamber has been involved with over the past year. Working with businesses that are just getting started or are growing and expanding is one of the most exciting things for the Chamber to be involved with. Please keep us in mind as the first stop for assisting businesses, there are a number of resources, programs and information that the Chamber has available that are often overlooked by the business community.
Chamber Presents Business Award Winners at Annual Meeting
Posted on July 18, 2008
At it’s Annual Meeting, the Chamber presented certificates of recognition to four area businesses recognizing the major contributions they have each made to the economic vitality and quality of life of Wyoming County. The Chamber’s criteria for selecting winners is based on actions such as expansion projects, capital investments, job growth, community involvement or for their contributions that strengthen their industry sector. According to James Pierce, Executive Director of the, Wyoming County Chamber, “there were a number of strong candidates that received consideration in each of these categories and the Chamber is proud to announce our 2008 award recipients”:
Blue Seal Feeds of Arcade was recognized as “Outstanding Manufacturer”
Western New York Crop Management of Perry was recognized as “Outstanding Agribusiness”
Byrncliff Resort and Conference Center of Varysburg was recognized as “Outstanding Retail/Service Business”
Perry New York LLC of Perry was recognized as “Most Promising New Business”
According to Chamber President, Mark Balling, “these four businesses have done amazing things for the business climate of Wyoming County, and are all well deserving of this honor.”
Blue Seal Feeds - Outstanding Manufacturer 2008
Blue Seal Feeds, a leading manufacturer and distributor of a wide line of animal feeds and products for lawn and garden care. The company was first established in 1868 by Henry K. Webster when Mr. Webster rented a small grist mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The company, known as H.K. Webster Company, grew from its meager beginnings into what is known today as Blue Seal Feeds, a subsidiary of Muscatine Foods Corporation and one of the largest feed manufacturing companies in the Northeast.
Blue Seal Feeds established themselves in Wyoming County’s Village of Arcade in 1981 and have been a good community citizen as well as creating a number of well compensated jobs. Employment numbers today have surpassed 100.
For a number of recent years the company has been experiencing a warehouse space “crisis.” It was utilizing an off-site storage building that was five miles away and a number of on-site containers/tractor trailers. This led to increased cost and inefficiencies, doubling their lease cost, double handling, frequent change-overs as well as added stress.
Blue Seal Feeds recently completed and are currently occupying a new 60,000 sq. ft. warehouse next to the company’s existing facility in Arcade. The project is expected to create an additional 25 good paying jobs over the next three years and retain 45 existing jobs that would have been lost if this expansion went elsewhere. At the grand opening ceremony of the new warehouse, President Randy Schwalke stated that “our business is growing and we searched several different locations for this investment. In the end, between the outstanding workforce in Arcade and the incentives provided through the Wyoming County Economic Development team, the choice became clear where the expansion should take place here.”
“The Chamber of Commerce recognizes Blue Seal Feeds dedication and recognition of the importance of their workforce and company’s commitment and investment in Wyoming County. Blue Seal Feeds is well deserving of the recognition as Outstanding Manufacturer of the year for 2008,” stated Chamber Executive Director, Jim Pierce.
Western New York Crop Management - Outstanding Agribusiness 2008
WNY Crop Management of Perry is a grower owned crop service, incorporated as a nonprofit organization. As a cooperative, an elected board of directors of farm members oversees the activities of a manager and technical staff charged with carrying out the services hired by their membership and contractual clients. Services include consulting, crop scouting, soil sampling, CAFO planning, nutrient management plans and conservation planning.
WNY Crop Management started out in 1987 as a pilot project of Cornell University which wanted to establish an independent crop monitoring program. The outreach office was first located in Ellicottville and then moved to East Aurora and then to Perry where the Manager Dave DeGolyer ran the business out of his home for a year. Dave moved the office to Main Street store front for a few years before settling in to their current location at 137 North Center Street in Perry.
Over the last 11 years since moving into Perry, WNY Crop Management has continued to grow in terms of farms and acreage serviced and jobs created. WNY Crop Management serves over 350 farms monitoring over 210,000 acres throughout 19 counties in New York State. Today WNY Crop Management has 21 employees working out of the Perry office with two more satellite offices established in Angelica and Randolph, New York that employ 6 collectively. WNY Crop Management continues to provide a vital service to crop health of the agricultural industry and their mission to be good stewards of the land and water.
Jim Pierce stated “WNY Crop Management is one of those overlooked but vitally important ag support businesses that makes agriculture in Wyoming County such a success. They have also grown to be a sizable employer in Wyoming County. On behalf of the Wyoming County Chamber I want to congratulate WNY Crop Management as being recognized as “Outstanding Agribusiness in 2008.”
Byrncliff Resort and Conference Center - Outstanding Retail/Service Business 2008
Byrncliff Resort & Conference Center of Varysburg is a year round resort offering one of WNY’s premier championship 18-hole golf course experiences. Byrncliff also offers casual dining in a full-service restaurant, swimming, miniature golf, motel rooms, banquet facilities and in more recent years cross country skiing and they have become a snowmobile hub and destination.
Byrncliff Resort & Conference Center started in 1964 under the name of Big Tree Development. Construction began in the spring of 1965 and in 1966 opened its clubhouse, restaurant, and nine-hole course. The complete 18-hole layout opened in the summer of 1967 and Big Tree Development changed its name to Byrncliff Country Club. Over the years, Byrncliff has made a continuous effort to upgrade the facility and grounds. Byrncliff is a popular and notable year-round stay and play resort with many activities for guests to experience. Along with outdoor recreation activities, Byrncliff provides indoor entertainment as well. Entertainers from around the Western NY region provide both music and theater performances throughout the year. Many of Byrncliff’s customers come from Western NY, New York State, Canada, and the surrounding states. In the future, Byrncliff looks to become the premier resort destination and conference center in region.
For many years Byrncliff has provided an important place for recreational entertainment and a convenient place for meetings. Jim Pierce said that “because of their ability to cater to larger groups and the outstanding service they provide, it has, and continues to be the go to place. The Meidenbauer family, the owners of Bryncliff, are very generous and committed to the growth and success of the Wyoming County business community and over the years have been a very active part of the Wyoming County Chamber. Congratulations to Byrncliff for being recognized as Outstanding Retail/Service Business for 2008, a designation that is long overdue.”
Perry New York LLC - Most Promising New Business
Perry NY LLC is a community development corporation, a private, yet community driven entity that is working to encourage business development in downtown Perry. The for-profit entity led by Managing Members has attracted 20 private investors and has leveraged public funding and programs including in-kind contributions to redevelop a 12,000 sq. ft. building on Main Street in Perry. The Perry LLC raised $250,000 in cash and in-kind services/materials towards the $500,000 total cost of purchase and rehab. Perry LLC’s investors now have a “"stake" in the downtown’s future and the success of the businesses in the building, which is nearly finished in terms of its renovation. They are now downtown’s biggest advocates - helping to find tenants, patronizing the business tenants and generally putting their money where their house is.
This building now houses artists on the third floor, professional offices and a massage therapist on the second floor, retail and a restaurant on the
first floor. The project is cash flowing while the Perry LLC is paying off their loans. After that, the investors should see a reasonable profit while the real estate grows in value as an asset over time. The Managing Members and investors say that the project is not a get-rich scheme, rather it reflects a new paradigm that recognizes that the participants all have a stake in their own downtown’s success that is qualitative. As a community, they can spread the risk and agree to be in it for the long term.
According to Jim Pierce, “the Perry LLC is a roll up your sleeves, let’s get to work entity with some key participants who are passionate about seeing their own downtown revitalized. This private/public project is something that needs to be showcased and replicated in other villages in Wyoming County. Congratulations to the Perry LLC as being award the Chamber’s Most Promising New Business. Everyone involved with this project needs to be commended.”
These four businesses received their award at the Wyoming County Chamber’s Annual Meeting on June 11, 2008 at the American Legion Hall in Warsaw’s Village Park.
The following businesses were sponsors of the event:
Gold Sponsors
American Classic Outfitters, Attica Auto & Hardware, The Bank of Castile, Bliss Machine, Bovis Lend Lease, Byrncliff Resort & Conference Center, Castile Ag Service, LLC, Clark Patterson Lee, Complete Payroll Processing, Creative Food Ingredients, Don Beck, Inc., Ed Hulme, Inc., Five Star Bank, Freed, Maxick & Battaglia, GenTech Scientific, Hilec, Inc., Koike Aronson, McCormick Farms, Morton Salt, Pioneer Credit Recovery, Prestolite Electric, Smoke Free Now, Tompkins Insurance Agency, Turnbull Heating & Air Conditioning, Upstate Auto Group, Upstate Door, and Wyoming County IDA
Silver Sponsor
Broughton Diversified Farming, LLC and National Fuel Resources
Bronze Sponsors
Silver Lake Marine, Senator Dale M. Volker, Emerling Farms, LLC, Livingston-Wyoming ARC, Wyoming County Farm Bureau, Washington Street Partners, Rehabilitation Today, RW Enterprise, LLC, GCC- Warsaw and Arcade Campus, Ironwood Golf Course, Jeffres Ag Service, Drasgow, Inc., and Appearances Design and Print
View the Spring 2008 Newsletter
Posted on April 25, 2008
Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture is Evident
Posted on April 18, 2008
The North Java Fire Hall was bustling with excitement on April 5th as 300 people came together to celebrate and recognize the importance of agriculture in Wyoming County at the Chamber’s Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Dinner. The event, which was coordinated by the Chamber, was designed to bring farmers and their neighbors together for the sole purpose of celebrating the county’s leading industry - agriculture.
“The chamber is proud to have been the lead agency for this important event. As one of the leading agriculture counties in New York State, the Chamber felt it was important to take the time to recognize the significant impact agriculture has on our county,” stated Chamber Executive Director James Pierce.
The Chamber would like to again congratulate Jim and Sarah Youngers and family on receiving the Pride of Agriculture Good Neighbor Award, which was presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County and the Wyoming County Farm Bureau.
A Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Slide show was presented at the event. Click on the link below to download and view a portion the slide show.
The Chamber would also like to extend their gratitude to the numerous sponsors of the event. A list of all the generous sponsors is listed below..
“The Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Dinner was just the first part of a year-long agriculture awareness initiative the Chamber’s Agriculture Committee has taken on. Our focus and energy now turns to the Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Tour,” stated Pierce.
This fall the Chamber will fill two motor coach buses and take county business owners and residents on tours of farms and agribusinesses throughout the county to expose them to the high-tech, modern, and trend setting agriculture operations in Wyoming County and to help foster a more thorough understanding of the scope and magnitude of agriculture in Wyoming County.
Download Pride of Wyoming County Ag Presentation
Pride of Wyoming County Agriculture Dinner Sponsors
Action Enterprise of Community Action - Agri-Fab & Repair, Inc. - American Classic Outfitters - Arcade-Knight Agency - Attica Auto & Hardware - Attica Veterinary Associates- Attica Package Company - Bank of Castile - Bliss Machine - Bovis Lend Lease - Broughton Diversified Farming, LLC - Byrncliff Resort & Conference Center - Castile Ag Service - Cattl-Tek - Clark Patterson Lee - Community Bank, NA - Corland Seeds LTD/Norm George - Creative Food Ingredients - Creekside Fabrics & Quilts - CSI Tax Service - Don Beck, Inc. - Ed Hulme, Inc - EJ’s Country Store & Grocery - Emerling Farms, LLC - Erwin J. Freyburger Jr. Construction - Falconer Meats - Farm Credit of Western New York - Farmer’s Express - Five Star Bank - Freed, Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs - GenTech Scientific - Hart’s Insurance Agency - Horizon Wind Energy - Ironwood Golf Course - Jeffres Ag Service - Kelly’s Garage - Kersch’s Ag Lime - King Brothers Fireplace & Stove, Inc - Koike Aronson - Lamb & Webster - Linwood Turf Equipment - Logel Appliance, Inc. - M&T Bank - McCormick Farms - Montgomery’s Building Supply - Morton Salt - Neamon’s IBA, Inc. - Pioneer Credit Recovery - Prestolite Electric - Reisdorf Brothers, Inc. - Royce Electric - S.J.F. Construction - Senator Dale Volker - Shur-Gain USA - Steuben Trust Co. - Sunny Knoll Farms - Table Rock Farm - The New Eagle Silo Corp. - Tompkins Insurance Agencies - True Farms - Turnbull Heating & Air Conditioning - Upstate Auto Group - Upstate Dodge Chrysler Jeep, Inc. - Upstate Door - UTZ Tire Service of Arcade - W. Glenn Sedam, Inc. - Warsaw’s Country Courier - WCJW Radio - Wellman Service, LLC - Wilson Transport, LLC - Wyoming County IDA - Zimmer Auto Parts.
Finger Lakes Wired Scholarship Program - Funding Available for Employee Training
Posted on February 28, 2008
The United States Department of Labor has made available Federal grant funds to businesses in the nine-county Finger Lakes Region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming, Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, Seneca and Yates counties) to upgrade the skills of their workforce in order to meet the demands of emerging industries. Emerging Industries are defined as:
Advanced Manufacturing
Alternative Energy
Bio/Life Sciences
Business Services
Engineering, Food & Agriculture
Health Care (including not-for-profit Health Care organizations)
Information Technology
Optics/Imaging
Businesses in these industries are also encouraged to apply for up to $25,000 in training funds to
1) Develop management competencies of mid - senior level Managers
2) Develop technical/occupational skill competencies of their employed workers or
3) Implement process or productivity improvement initiatives (such as Lean, ISO, Six Sigma, Sarbanes Oxley, etc).
Training should be completed within 6 (six) months, and should lead to the acquisition of industry-recognized certifications/credentials, supervisory and managerial skills training, process/productivity improvement, and-or in-demand technical and occupational skills.
Applicants are required to provide matching funds equal to the amount of funds requested. Funds are awarded through a contract process. Reimbursement payments can be made on an incremental basis or after the completion of the training project based on expenditures and supporting documentation.
Applications will be reviewed on a continuous basis and awards made through a contract process until funds are exhausted. Depending on the volume of applications received, the approval process may take up to 2 weeks. Applications should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the beginning of training.
For more information and to receive an application, please contact Claudia Burcke at 585-258-3541 or email
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