On April 11, 2011 at 7pm Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) officials will hold an information meeting at the MedTech Center Building, located across from Genesee Community College (GCC) in Room 214.  GCEDC officials encourage residents to attend the meeting to learn more about economic development within the community. 

In 2003, the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) made a regional commitment as part of its economic development strategic plan to collaborate with area Universities centers (University of Buffalo, University of Rochester and Genesee Community College), state and federal agencies (Office of Community Renewal (OCR), NYSTAR, USDA Rural Development) and private sector partners to enhance the “commercialization capacity” of life science innovation in Western New York.

Over the last two years GCEDC had over 21 site visits by 10 high-tech companies who were interested in locating in Genesee County but expressed their concern that our area lacked the skilled workforce needed for their operations.  Seeking to put these concerns to rest, the GCEDC was awarded a $750,000 innovative grant from the New York State Office of Community Renewal for infrastructure in its’ Buffalo East Technology Park and to create a pilot workforce training program.  To this end, the GCEDC solicited a partnership with Genesee Community College (GCC) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to plan, design, and implement a training model to attract high-tech companies. 

The 2009-2010 New York State Budget contained a statewide “cost recovery” tax on industrial development agencies (IDAs) of up to $5 million.  Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) in conjunction with many other IDAs across the state joined together to fight the tax through legal action.  The Attorney General’s Office agreed not to enforced, nor collected the tax in 2009-10 due to the legal action taken by the IDAs. 

For the seventh year running, Genesee County has been named one of the nation’s top ten Micropolitans by Site Selection Magazine’s Governor’s Cup edition.  A Micropolitan area is defined as a city with a population of 50,000 or less that serves as the seat of a region or county.  There are currently 576 Micropolitan areas in USA and Puerto Rico.  The Batavia Micropolitan and Genesee County were first recognized in 2004 and ranked 7th in the nation.  In 2005, the Batavia Micropolitan was named the 3rd fastest growing Micropolitan in the nation and the number 1 location in the Northeast.  Batavia made the list again in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2010, the Batavia Micropolitan was tied for ninth in the nation.