The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) continues to pursue a $1.2 million phase one shovel-ready project to build a business park on a 75 acre parcel in the town of LeRoy. Similar efforts in the towns of Batavia, Pembroke and Bergen have yielded major corporate investment. The plan for the GCEDC is to replicate this business attraction model in LeRoy.
The GCEDC has purchased the land for the project, requested a re-zoning of the property from the Town of LeRoy and has received an award through the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process administered by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council for $420,000 to begin site engineering and infrastructure construction.
The GCEDC estimates that at full build out, the LeRoy Food & Tech Park will have approximately 600,000 square feet for office, advanced manufacturing and distribution/warehousing space that could employ as many as 1,000 people.
“The GCEDC has a proven track record in making sites shovel ready through smart investments and market these sites to businesses locally, regionally, nationally and internationally and we are confident that this can be accomplished in LeRoy,” said Genesee County Legislator Shelley Stein (LeRoy).
“Collaboration is critical to this type of effort and it’s good to see how our local government leaders and economic development and education professionals are working together to make this project a reality,” said Genesee County Legislator Robert J. Basuch (Elba, Byron and Bergen).
“We continue to move forward with the GCEDC to make this site shovel ready,” said LeRoy Town Supervisor Stephen R. Barbeau. “We have the real potential to create new jobs, secure new investment and grow the tax base in our community.”
The LeRoy Food & Tech Park is located on a 75 acre parcel on Route 19 and West Bergen Road in the Town of LeRoy bordering the Village of LeRoy. The GCEDC estimates that when developed, it will be able to attract companies and investment to the site that will enable additional commercial infill into the Village.
To prepare the local workforce for these new jobs, the towns are partnering with LeRoy Central School and Byron-Bergen Central School through a Professional Skills Training program. The program is being funded through a grant from America’s Best Communities award that the Towns of LeRoy and Bergen won in 2015.
Professional skills include various interpersonal skills such as how to interact with people, emotional intelligence, verbal communications skills and other skills to help people perform in the workplace. The lack of professional skills has been identified by employers as one of the biggest challenges for the next generation of workers.
“We need to work together to not only bring new jobs to our community, but also to provide the next generation of our workforce the tools to be successful once they graduate from school,” said Donald S. Cunningham, Town of Bergen Supervisor.
“There are a number of exciting initiatives taking place in Bergen and LeRoy and this project has the potential to really have a positive impact on both communities,” said Anna Marie Barclay, Village of Bergen Mayor.
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