Our Economic Development Model
Genesee County’s Economic Development Model guides our approach to attracting new investment, community growth, and a high quality of life.
GCEDC staff use this model to develop and implement resources and partnerships in Genesee County and across the Buffalo-Rochester Tech Corridor.
The Economic Development Model has five pillars.
Using this approach, Genesee County has supported over 500 projects since 2003 that have resulted in commitments of $2 billion of capital investment, 5,000 jobs, and 5,000,000 square feet of new and renovated facilities.
Shovel-Ready Site Development
Genesee County leverages of our network of communities, regional location, workforce, and transportation assets with the successful development over 1,800 acres of shovel-ready sites in Genesee County, including the Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP).
Genesee County Shovel-Ready Sites
In addition to STAMP, Genesee County successfully expanded dairy products manufacturing through the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and Buffalo East Tech Park; support a variety of manufacturing and distribution businesses at Appletree Acres and Gateway I and II Corporate Parks; and prepared the Le Roy Food & Tech Park for future growth.
A 2019 SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government study reported the economic output of labor income and value added by businesses in Genesee County’s shovel-ready sites at $809 million – 16% of the total economic output of the county. The study projects that the existing shovel-ready sites could support an additional $4.9 billion of economic output at full capacity.
Genesee County’s shovel-ready sites have been designed and located at Interstates, State Highways, and infrastructure corridors with an Edge Development Strategy. This encourages in-fill development in the City of Batavia and village centers.
Workforce Development
Genesee County’s workforce is well-educated and trained, with a central location in the Buffalo-Rochester Tech Corridor.
More than 2 million people live, work and play within 50 miles of Batavia, with a strong middle-skills base and higher-education participation that welcomes 30,000 enrolled technician and engineering students annually.
The GCEDC has implemented a team-based, industry-focused F.A.S.T. workforce development strategy with partners in career support, apprenticeships, education, and career and technical training.
Readiness for F.A.S.T. (Food processing, Advanced manufacturing, Skilled trades, and Technician) Careers is achieved through an active K-12 engagement calendar that in 2022-2023 had over 2,500 youth event and program participants.
With facilities including New York's top high school mechatronics lab, effective youth apprenticeships, job shadows, and internships, and pre-apprenticeship bootcamps, Genesee County youth are more engaged and prepared for career success.
Innovation & Entrepreneurs
Genesee County’s Harvester Center is recognized as the world’s first business incubator, an active legacy that is seen in businesses that have grown from start-ups to leading manufacturers and business-to-business employers.
That same spirit leads the GCEDC to take leadership in challenging opportunities, from securing business resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to executive coaching and housing start-up and co-working spaces at the Upstate Med Tech Center.
Genesee County has proven to be a ready location for emerging and innovative approaches to de-carbonizing industries. Recent projects to deploy electric school buses, additive manufacturing for wind turbine construction, and build North America’s most ambitious green hydrogen manufacturing campus have chosen Genesee County.
Placemaking
Genesee County’s communities offer a mix of rural beauty, active and welcoming Main Streets, and a center city that enable residents to choose a family-friendly lifestyle with access to cultural and healthy living assets; and strong connectivity to two regional metropolitans in Buffalo and Rochester.
Genesee County Communities
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative and related programs have spurred investments into downtown Batavia totaling over $60 million, led by projects like the Healthy Living Campus and creation of over 65 apartments on Ellicott Street. Additional sites in Batavia’s Brownfield Opportunity Area provide ready sites for growth in Opportunity Zones.
Housing development is a key enabler of the GCEDC’s talent attraction and retention strategy. With municipal partners, the GCEDC is actively pursuing programs to incentivize new housing construction, market-rate apartments, and housing stock improvements.
Financial Incentives
Project financing programs available through the GCEDC have incentivized projects that have placed Genesee County in the Top 10 nationally among peer communities for business growth for 19 consecutive years.
Recent GCEDC Projects
Businesses locating and expanding in Genesee County can qualify for property tax, sales tax, and mortgage tax incentives; manufacturing, mixed-use, redevelopment and agri-business loan funding; tax-exempt bonds; workforce development grants; and Foreign Trade Zone benefits. Available utility incentives programs enable companies locating in Genesee County to receive low-cost, renewable electricity.
In addition to these programs for qualifying projects, manufacturing businesses operating in New York do not encounter common taxes assessed by other states.
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0% corporate income tax for manufacturing
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0% tax on personal property
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0% tax on manufacturing equipment
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0% on inventory