‘Banner week’ for economic development in Medina area, mayor says
MEDINA – Projects that have been months and years in the making both became public this week when Pride Pak presented its site plan for a new vegetable processing and distribution plant in Medina and the first tenant committed to a new high-tech factory in the Town of Alabama.
Both sites will be big users of Medina’s sewer plant, a great economic development resource that has operated under capacity for years.
“It’s a banner week for economic development in western Orleans,” Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said. “Medina’s water and wastewater is a big winner.”
The two plants will generate big revenue for Medina’s water and sewer funds. Deputy Mayor Mike Sidari said that should help to at least stave off water and sewer increases for village residents. The revenue should also allow the village to maintain and improve its infrastructure, Meier said.
Other communities trying to lure big companies often don’t have sewer capacity ready for big companies. Medina’s sewer and water resources were among the assets that brought Pride Pak to the community. It will build a new 62,000-square-foot facility on Maple Ridge Ridge, with room to expand in the future.
Pride Pak will have 85 to 100 employees as part of the first phase. Construction should start next month, pending final approvals on the site plan from the Village Planning Board, and other local and state permits.
The company expects to start construction next month on the new vegetable processing facility, a site that will likely be expanded in phases and could see 200 employees at full build-out.
A Massachusetts company, 1366 Technologies, will build a 130,000-square-foot manufacturing site just south of the Town of Shelby in Genesee County. The facility will go in a farm field off Lewiston Road on Crosby Road.
The company will make silicon carbon wafers, a key component in solar panels. It will make a $100 million investment in the first phase of the project, and expects to expand quickly. It will have 600 full-time employees in phase 1 and could employ 1,000 at full build-out.
The state is committing $33 million for infrastructure for the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama. A sewer main will run to the site, connecting to Medina’s system. Meier said the route for the sewer main hasn’t yet been determined.
