comeback orleans

Hotel would be far better in heart of Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2014 at 12:00 am

Editorial

Courtesy of Joseph Cardone – This rendering shows how the Medina Theatre and a neighboring warehouse could be transformed into a hotel and conference center on Main Street next to the railroad tracks.

MEDINA – A report from a consultant says a hotel could make money and be sustainable in Medina. That’s the good news for our county, which loses out on longer stays from visitors. Orleans County actually ranks dead last among the 62 counties in the state for visitor spending.

Many of our visitors are day-trippers, who make a drive out and then head back, often choosing to stay in hotels in Batavia. That deprives Orleans County and our businesses of the full economic impact of these guests.

The Orleans Economic Development Agency has been working to see if a hotel is sustainable in the county. The EDA hired Interim Hospitality Consultants to do a feasibility study for a new hotel in Medina. The firm, led by Edward Xanders, concluded a small hotel with 41 to 49 rooms would be profitable with at least an average daily occupancy rate of 60 percent.

That’s the good news.

The EDA has warmed up to a new chain, Cobblestone Inn and Suites, for the project that will need local investors. The EDA has land on Route 31A across from GCC in an industrial park. That spot would be prime for the project, EDA officials said during a board meeting on Oct. 10.

A chain motel might be an ideal fit for a community with not much of an entity, or for a Thruway stop. But it seems a poor choice for a place like Medina, which is seeing a rebound in its historic business district because it feels anti-chain with a distinctive collection of buildings and merchants. Visitors like Medina’s sense of place. It feels like a Norman Rockwell painting.

I think the chain model on the edge of town is the worst choice for the project and I hope local investors will steer the hotel to the downtown area. If investors go with the chain model it could find a home in the historic district, so more businesses could benefit from the visitors who would no doubt like to go for a walk in the downtown and along the canal, rather than by cornfields on 31A.

If the investors decide to follow the Cobblestone chain model, it seems to me the large parking lot across from the Post Office and next to the R.H. Newell building would work for the project, putting it right in the heart of the downtown.

If that spot isn’t quite right, the Snappy manufacturing site on Commercial Street along the canal might be the best choice. The investors could acquire the property, which is for sale, demolish it and put up the chain hotel. The visitors would be next to the historic Erie Canal, a lift bridge and lots of independent merchants.

I thought those might be the best options for a downtown location, but then Joe Cardone met with the Medina Business Association and presented renderings of hotel and conference center on Main Street. The Cardone family has owned the historic Medina theatre for decades and upgraded the site last year, opening it for events.

Photo by Tom Rivers – This warehouse could be converted into a hotel, giving Medina a distinctive place for visitors to stay in a historic district.

It is part of a block of big Medina sandstone buildings, including a giant warehouse along the railroad tracks. Cardone said the site is beyond shovel ready. It’s “hammer ready,” he told the Business Association.

Cardone envisions a shared entryway between the two buildings. He believes the conference center and hotel would drive traffic for each other, and other downtown businesses.

“They would be demand generators,” he said. “The conference center would help with the success and occupancy of the hotel.”

Those dominant Medina sandstone buildings would give the community a one-of-a-kind hotel and conference center that is sure to make a stronger impression on visitors than a cookie-cutter chain hotel. Cardone said the warehouse, owned by the Fuller family, is a 20,000-square-foot four-story site that could be carved up into hotel rooms.

“I have a keen interest in what’s best for the village and this would be a wonderful asset,” Cardone told the Orleans Hub. “There would be a big ripple effect for businesses. It merits looking into.”

There is an existing large parking lot behind the buildings and there is also room to expand.

The sandstone buildings happen to be in a state and national historic district, making renovations eligible for 40 percent in tax credits. Developers have used those credits to push through renovations of hotels at historic sites in Buffalo.

A project at the Cardone and Fuller buildings would use existing structures, solid buildings that can’t be duplicated by today’s build-it-in-a-hurry chain stores. And the 40 percent in tax credits is a major financial incentive.

Let’s say it cost $4 million to turn the Cardone and Fuller sites into a first-class hotel and conference center (I don’t think there are any cost estimates yet), the tax credits would turn that into a $2.4 million project. If it’s a $5 million project, the tax credits would make it $3 million. An $8 million project would be $4.8 million.

A chain hotel isn’t eligible for those tax benefits.

The reduced costs through tax credits is a major reason why the developers have been renovating some of the grand old buildings in Buffalo. And those projects have been a big part of the renaissance in Buffalo. It could do the same for Medina.

Candidates don’t have much to say about Orleans County, rural NY

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 October 2014 at 12:00 am

Editorial

Candidates for state offices are sending out glossy mailers, giving lots of stump speeches and interviews about their candidacies.

You’ll hear about being business friendly, cutting taxes and they’ll talk a lot about themselves – their records of community service.

You won’t hear much or anything at all that is specific to rural New York, including Orleans County. Our county needs some attention from our state leaders. We have high unemployment and poverty rates. While the state population grows, Orleans is on a downward trend for residents. The county’s population dropped 3 percent from 2000 to 2010, down from 44,171 to 42,883.

Some of our school districts have closed buildings recently because there are too few students.

Three of our villages – Albion, Holley and Medina – are some of the most oppressed communities in the region for taxes. Their overall tax bases are eroding while the need for services – police protection, street upkeep – increases with fewer people to pay the bill.

The county has the third lowest median home value in the state at $77,000, according to a 2012 report from the Empire Center. Of 57 counties, only Cattaraugus ($75,000) and Allegany ($62,750) fare worse, according to the report. Other southshore counties do much better: Wayne, $110,000; Oswego, $95,000; Monroe, $125,000, and Niagara, $97,000.

We have the lowest visitor spending in the state and our sales tax per capita is among the lowest. If more people visited and spent money here, it would generate more sales tax, easing some of the pressure on our property taxes.

I’d like to hear from our state legislator candidates if they have any ideas. Do the candidates for governor have any ideas? (Local officials at the village, town and county level are always welcome to put forth ideas and energy to address any of these issues.)

In a campaign devoid of ideas, here are few that are specific to Orleans County:

More state aid for the villages

We’ve written how grossly unfair the state is about doling out aid to villages, towns and cities (“State shortchanges villages with aid, leading to their demise,” Jan. 27, 2014). If you’re a city, you can count on at least $100 to $150 a person. If you’re a village, you get about $5 to $10 a person.

This aid disparity is a prime reason why our village tax rates are way out of whack compared to small cities such as Batavia. Batavia’s city tax rate – about $10 per $1,000 of assessed property – is about half of the combined village-town rate for Medina, Albion and Holley. Batavia gets $1,750,975 in state aid for 12,563 people ($125,41 per head) while Medina (which also has a paid fire department like Batavia) gets $45,523 for 6,065 people or $7.51 per head.

If I was Rob Ortt or Johnny Destino, the candidates seeking to succeed the retiring George Maziarz in the State Senate, this would be my top issue for Orleans County. But it’s not on the radar screen. Both should be pledging to fight for us, to get us a fair shake. Rob Astorino would score points across the state with villages if he made equitable aid a leading issue. But it’s not on his agenda.

Gov. Cuomo hasn’t touched this in his first term, but then again I don’t think a state legislator has pressed the cause.

Host community benefits package for prison towns

New York State provides hundreds of thousands of dollars for communities that have video gaming facilities, places like Batavia, Farmington, Hamburg. That money is to help the host municipalities keep up roads, improve the gateways to the facilities and help with some of the costs – police – that come with the casino-like destinations.

Landfill operators also offer host community benefit packages to towns that allow the sites. Waste Management offered Albion about $500,000 annually.

Photos by Tom Rivers

Two prisons, including the Albion Correctional Facility, consume about 500 acres of land just west of the Village of Albion.

Companies that build the mammoth wind turbines also pay several hundred thousand dollars to towns in Wyoming County to have the turbines, money that has reduced taxes and helped the communities keep up with government services.

If you allow a “noxious use,” you generally get money for it. But not with prisons. Albion has two of them that consume about 500 acres of tax-free land.

I wrote before that the state should provide $1 a day per inmate as a host community benefit package. (“Prison communities deserve host-community benefits package,”Aug. 7, 2013)

The two prisons in Albion combined have about 1,800 inmates. At a dollar a day, per inmate the community should get $657,000 in a host community package, money that would be shared among the village, town, school district and county.

State-wide there are about 55,000 inmates. If the state approved this plan, it would cost the state $20,075,000 annually and that money would go to places sorely in need of the revenue. (Why else would the state site prisons in these towns?)

The state spends about $4 billion annually for corrections. The prison-host aid would raise the corrections spending by a measly 0.5 percent – That’s half of 1 percent. Actually, Ortt or Destino are welcome to push for $2 a head per day.

People tell me the prison provides jobs for Albion. These are not Albion jobs. They are jobs for the region. We have a lot of people coming here from out of the community, yet Albion bears the full burden and costs of having these prisons. We deserve some money.

Free up the Parkway for development

Our best land for development is off limits up by Lake Ontario. The state really put us in a strait jacket along the lake when it created the Lake Ontario State Parkway about 40 years ago and designated it as park land. The Parkway stretches about 12.5 miles into Orleans.

We have low-valued real estate, but that could change if people could build houses off the Parkway. This is particularly relevant because the STAMP project in Alabama (across the county line in Genesee County) will bring high-paying jobs and those workers and executives would welcome the chance for a lakefront home.

The Parkway along Lake Ontario has little trafiic but lots of potential to help Orleans County.

Orleans Hub wrote about this before and it’s another idea that failed to galvanize any interest or action from local state officials. (Click here.)

It will be hard to convince the State Legislature to declassify state parkland, but if they knew how much the Parkway cost taxpayers and how underutilized it is, I think they could be swayed. I’d like to see Ortt and Destino make this an issue and fight hard when one of them gets elected. (They could at least push for a study on the costs of Parkway and potential windfall if the land was open for development. The whole thing doesn’t have to be opened up. It would be good to preserve wetlands and wildlife habitat.)

Extend the hydropower arc to Albion

If you’re 30 miles from the Niagara Power Project in Lewiston, businesses can seek low-cost hydropower. Medina falls within the 30-mile zone and the cheap electricity is a big reason why Medina still has a strong manufacturing sector.

State legislators and the governor could help a poor, ailing county by allowing the hydropower eligibility zone to spread 10 miles eastward to Albion. There are lots of sites in Albion that could be used for manufacturing. The village has ample water and sewer infrastructure.

Extending hydropower to Albion might be the most dramatic action the state could do to bring business to Orleans County. (Holley already has low-cost municipal electric at its business park.)

These are just a few ideas. Ortt, Destino, Astorino, Cuomo and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley are more than welcome to weigh in.

Holley pushes to form LDC to acquire old school, ‘Diaz homes’

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 October 2014 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers – The old Holley High School has been decaying at the corner of routes 31 and 237, a prominent part of Holley.

HOLLEY – The Village Board thinks it may have a solution to move along the redevelopment of the old Holley High School and to also get eight homes currently owned by the federal government back into the hands of residents.

The village is working on establishing a local development corporation. That entity could hold title on the properties and also be vehicle for directing resources to the sites, with a goal of getting them back on the tax rolls and contributing to the community, said Mayor John Kenney.

Other communities have LDCs to take possession of troubled properties and work on their development. Holley will need to name members to a board for the LDC and legally create the corporation. Kenney said those efforts are in process.

The village has been pressuring the federal Environmental Protection Agency for years to put eight houses back on the market. Congressman Chris Collins and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer have also pushed the EPA to release the sites so they could be sold as residences. The houses are on Jackson, Geddes, Van Buren and North Main streets.

Jackson Street in Holley is a tree-lined neighborhood with residential appeal, Mayor John Kenney said. Some of the houses owned by the EPA are on the street, which also used to be home to Diaz Chemical.

The houses were feared contaminated from a leak at the former Diaz Chemical plant in January 2002. The houses have been cleaned and deemed safe. Yet the EPA still sits on them. Kenney said the village will offer to take the sites through the LDC so they can be sold. Proceeds from the sale would go to the LDC and be directed to other community benefit projects, Kenney said.

That could include helping with the rehabilitation of the old school. That site has been abandoned for nearly two decades and stuck in limbo through a bankruptcy.

Local governments have declined to take possession of the site due to the potential liability. Kenney said an LDC may been better able to push development at the old school.

The village also is trying to get the school on the National Register of Historic Places. That status could draw grants and tax credits for a redevelopment project at the school.

Report says Medina could sustain chain hotel

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 10 October 2014 at 12:00 am

MEDINA – A consultant has studied the market for a hotel in Medina and concluded a small hotel with 41 to 49 rooms would be profitable.

The Orleans Economic Development Agency hired a consultant, Interim Hospitality Consultants, to do a feasibility study for a new hotel in Medina. The firm, led by Edward Xanders, sees a project as a success in Medina with at least an average daily occupancy rate of 60 percent.

The EDA is talking with Cobblestone Inn and Suites about a project in Medina. That company has built many hotels in small towns, typically working with investors in the host community.

The project is Medina would need about $1.6 million in investment, said Jim Whipple, EDA executive director. In addition to the hotel rooms, the project would have a swimming pool, conference room and a gym.

The EDA thinks a spot on EDA-owned land on Maple Ridge Road across from GCC would be an ideal location because the site already has infrastructure access within the village.

“It has water, sewer and power,” Whipple told the EDA board of directors this morning. “It could ramp up quickly.”

Investors would be needed to make the project a reality. Those investors would ultimately determine the location for the hotel, Whipple said.

Gabrielle Barone, the EDA vice president for business development, said Cobblestone has worked on projects in smaller communities than Medina. A chain hotel would be a lift for the area, boosting bed tax for tourism, sales tax for the county and state, and other spending in the community, Whipple said.

Orleans County ranks last in the state among 62 counties with visitor spending, according to a state report in 2012. The state report, prepared by Tourism Economics, puts the total visitor spending in Orleans at $21.13 million.

The county doesn’t have a chain hotel. That limits many visitors to day trips when they come to Orleans. With a chain hotel some of those visitors would be more inclined to stay overnight, spending more money in the county.

The report from Interim Hospitality Consultants said about 30 percent of the Medina hotel visitors would be on business-related trips, while the others would be people visiting family, or in town for class reunions, weddings and other special events.

Cobblestone prefers the site in Medina versus Albion because it’s farther away from competition in Batavia, where there are numerous hotels by the Thruway, Whipple said.

For more information on Cobblestone Inn, click here.

Another young entrepreneur sets up shop in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 October 2014 at 12:00 am

New auto body and collision shop opens on 31

Photos by Tom Rivers – Bruce Deyarmin, owner and lead painter for American Auto Body and Collision, opened the business on Sept. 15 at 308 East Center St.

MEDINA – Bruce Deyarmin can give new life and a fresh look to a car that looks smashed and ready for the scrap yard.

Since he was 15 he has been honing his skills as a body and collision specialist. After working for other people, Deyarmin last month opened his own business, American Auto Body and Collision at 308 East Center St.

Deyarmin, 30, took a break from body work for about year and worked as a contractor on houses. He missed the collision repair work.

“It’s like being an artist,” he said about bringing back crushed cars. “You can step back and admire the job you did.”

Deyarmin said most of the local vehicles in auto body and collision shops have had deer hits or been in other accidents. He has photos of cars with smashed-in front ends and other crumpled parts. When he’s done with the car, including giving it new paint and detailing, it looks like new.

Bruce Deyarmin is pictured with a custom built car, a 1995 Ford Probe, that he built himself. Deyarmin takes the vehicle to many local car shows.

Deyarmin is a Medina native and was born at Medina Memorial Hospital. He has watched the business district’s rebirth in recent years and wanted to be a part of it. He is near Ace Hardware, which completed major renovations of the former Jubilee store. Deyarmin cited that example and Tom Snyder’s work on a lumber yard and hardware across the street as examples of people investing in the east end of the village on Route 31.

Several other young adults are also investing in Medina and opening new businesses, Deyarmin noted.

“It feels like the whole town is coming back,” he said.

He needed to renovate 308 East Center St., painting the inside of the complex and adding ventilation and filtration systems, among the building improvements. He made a comfortable office a high priority for customers who may decide to wait while their car is being worked on.

Deyarmin also plans to sell used cars from the location. He has room for up to 15 vehicles. He expects to start selling those in about three weeks.

American Auto Body and Collision is open Monday through Saturday. Call Deyarmin at (585) 318-4084 for more information.

New meadery expected to be big draw for Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 September 2014 at 12:00 am

810 Meadworks features honey, historic location

Photos by Tom Rivers – Bryan DeGraw, back left, talks about mead with people on the Ale in Autumn tasting event Saturday in Medina. 810 Meadworks is currently fermenting 200 gallons of mead. The business plans to officially open in early December.

MEDINA – For the past several months, a former barbershop has been transformed into a meadery in the historic R.H. Newell Building in downtown Medina.

Bryan and Larissa DeGraw and their friend Morris Babcock still have work to do, but on Saturday they gave 750 people on the Ale in Autumn beer-tasting event a sneak peek of what’s to come.

The DeGraws and Babcock in early December plan to open 810 Meadworks at 113 West Center St., Suite 1. They have 200 gallons of mead fermenting. They will produce meads, which are alcoholic drinks made by fermenting honey with water and often fruits, spices, grains and hops.

Mr. DeGraw has been a home brewer and mead maker for five years.

The business features a sign made from wood and a piece of stainless from the former barbershop.

810 Meadworks will be the only meadery between Albany and Ohio. That uniqueness will be a draw for “foodies,” people looking for authentic food experiences, said Michael Gaughn, owner of a media marketing company called deus X media.

“This winery really stands out,” Gaughn said Saturday at 810 Meadworks during the Ale in Autumn event. “It is the only meadery within 200 miles of here and you have a winery in the middle of town. This will be huge. This is radically different for wine trails.”

Gaughn works for the Medina Railroad Museum, the Niagara Wine Trail and other clients. He just produced a commercial for the Niagara Wine Trail, highlighting its closer proximity to Rochester than the Finger Lakes. The commercial is being shown on the Food Network, HGTV, and Bravo. Click here to see it.

Bryan DeGraw, left, and Morris Babcock are pictured with some of the 55-gallon drums where they will ferment mead. The meads are alcoholic drinks made by fermenting honey with water and often fruits, spices, grains and hops. DeGraw and Babcock did much of the renovations for 810 Meadworks themselves.

The DeGraws about a year ago moved from New Jersey, Mr. DeGraw’s native state, to Orleans County. Mrs. DeGraw’s parents live in Kent. The DeGraws were attracted to the revitalization in downtown Medina, especially in its historic business district.

They believe their business will complement others in the community, including other ventures in the Newell building, including the Boiler 54 entertainment venue, Shirt Factory Café and the Hart Hotel.

The Niagara Wine Trail was officially extended last year past Niagara County, through Orleans and all the way to Route 390 in Rochester. Medina finds itself ideally situated in the middle of the expanded Niagara Wine Trail. That was another reason why the business partners wanted to open 810 Meadworks in downtown Medina.

Larissa DeGraw is pictured with some of the chocolates she made for Ale in Autumn. 810 Meadworks will also sell her chocolates.

810 Meadworks uses “810” in its name from the Bible verse Nehemiah 8:10: “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Besides serving mead, 810 Meadworks will offer chocolates made by Mrs. DeGraw.

“They conceived of their idea, got the permits and did the construction in less than a year,” Gaughn said. “They’ve done an amazing job.”

810 Meadworks is expected to draw visitors to the R.H. Newell Building and for other businesses in Medina.

Lake Ontario Fruit embraces technology in expansion

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 17 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Packing House – The Chamber’s Agricultural Business of the Year – employs 90 workers in peak season

Photos by Tom Rivers – John Russell, general manager and partner at Lake Ontario Fruit, stands inside a new controlled-atmosphere storage building that was constructed last year. The site holds 200,000 bushels of apples and slows down the ripening process say the fruit can be stored for nearly a year.

SweeTangos head down the packing line. Lake Ontario Fruit packs about 1.1 million bushels of apples each year for the fresh market. The state’s total apple crop tends to be 25 to 30 million bushels each year.

GAINES – Lake Ontario Fruit put up another new building this year, this time a 5,766-square-foot storage warehouse. The company also redid its parking lot, which serves 90 employees and tractor trailers delivering apples or taking them packed in boxes to grocery stores.

Lake Ontario Fruit has invested about $7 million in upgrading its facilities on Ridge Road since 2008. The company has added a second packing line, built a new controlled-atmosphere storage and upgraded other equipment.

When the new packing line went in in 2010, the company was able to add about 30 employees. It keeps 12 to 15 workers year-round with employment peaking at about 90.

Workers fills bags and boxes with SweeTango apples. Lake Ontario Fruit packs all the SweeTangos in New York that are grown west of Rochester.

The company is a partnership of several local fruit growers as well as John Russell, the general manager. The packing, storage and sales facility is well positioned to serve the local fruit growers for years to come, Russell said.

The company is being recognized by the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce as the “Agricultural Business of the Year.” It will be honored on Saturday during an awards dinner at Tillman’s Village Inn.

Shane Lewis, the production manager, checks data on the packing line for SweeTango apples on Tuesday. Lake Ontario Fruit has technology, an internal defect sorter, that checks apples for pressure and other quality issues.

Russell said it is a good time to be in the apple business. Customers are willing to pay a premium for apples such as Honeycrisp, and new varieties coming into the market: SweeTango, SnapDragon, RubyFrost and Zestar, with apple breeders working on others as well.

“Customers want apples with different flavor profiles,” Russell said Tuesday at the complex at 14234 Ridge Rd., located about a mile west of Route 98.

The local fruit growers are swapping out some of their trees, removing less popular varieties with the more popular ones. Lake Ontario Fruit then packs, stores and sells the apples, working with New York Apple Sales, Inc. to market the product.

John Russell is pictured inside the new CA storage. Operators lower the oxygen and raise the carbon dioxide, which acts to put the apples to sleep so they can be stored longer.

Lake Ontario Fruit used to contract with other sites to store some of the apples. But the new CA building from a year ago allows the company to keep all of the apples on one site.

The CA also uses the latest storage technology, allowing Lake Ontario Fruit to lower the oxygen and raise the carbon dioxide levels, which slows the ripening process for apples. That extends the time apples can be in storage and allows the company to put them on the market when the command a higher dollar.

This new 5,766-square-foot storage warehouse was constructed earlier this year and is used to store pallets, cardboard and packing supplies. Lake Ontario Fruit now has enough storage space for fruit and equipment to have everything on site at 14234 Ridge Rd.

Bins of apples are stacked high in this storage room, part of the original packing house in 1982. The room uses foam insulation.

The company has worked to implement the latest technology for food quality and safety. When the apples go through the packing line, they pass an infrared defect sorting system that checks apples for pressure, water core problems and any other problems. If the apple doesn’t meet the standard, it is directed off the line.

Lake Ontario Fruit also has the latest in traceability technology. Every apple gets a sticker and that label has information that can pinpoint which farm grew the apple, what day it was picked and from what lot and block.

A truck of Gala apples from Lamont Fruit Farm in Waterport stopped at Lake Ontario Fruit on Tuesday. John Russell and Teresa Cano, who works in quality control, take samples of the truck load. They also put labels on the bins that note when the apples were picked and from what orchard, block and lot.

“Any progressive produce company is doing this,” Russell said about the traceability technology. “We can trace every apple to the individual orchard it comes from.”

That technology will be critical if there is ever a food recall. It also is helpful for Lake Ontario Fruit and its growers, providing information that recognizes farmers for a good job if certain apples are highlighted for flavor, for example.

Russell said there is room for Lake Ontario Fruit to grow. Many of the growers in recent years have planted new trees that will be bearing full crops in the coming years.

‘There are a lot of young trees in the ground,” Russell said. “There is definitely an opportunity with more fresh fruit coming into the market.”

The Lake Ontario Fruit complex appears in the background while bins of Gala apples are on a truck at the site on Ridge Road.

Business of the Year keeps growing in Medina

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Brunner International is putting on addition, adding employees

Photo by Tom Rivers – Brunner International is putting on a 48,000-square-foot addition to its complex at the corner of Route 31 and Bates Road in Medina.

Brad MacDonald, Brunner vice president, has been with the company since it opened in Medina in 1992.

MEDINA – In 1992, Brunner International moved six employees into a cavernous manufacturing plant at the corner of Bates Road and Route 31. Abex Corporation had shut down and the site was vacant for seven years before Brunner moved in.

Brad MacDonald, then a salesman for Brunner, and other company leaders viewed Medina as an ideal location to grow the company in the United States. Brunner makes brakes and components for heavy-duty trucks and trailers.

Brunner made this brake assembly, which is displayed inside the company on Bates Road.

Brunner, which has another site in Niagara Falls, Ontario, wanted to expand into the United States about two decades ago. The company has been on a steady rise the past 22 years, now employing 390 people in Medina. The company is putting on a 48,000-square-foot addition and expects to grow to 450 employees when the expansion is complete, said MacDonald, now vice president of the company.

The current expansion, which should be ready in March, follows a similar expansion five years ago.

The company’s presence has helped fill the gap left by Fisher-Price, which laid off 700 workers in Medina in 1995. MacDonald said the community, with its agricultural roots, has a strong work ethic, and that is a prime ingredient in the company’s success in Medina.

Brunner workers use a forge to heat up parts to 2,200 degrees.

“The Brunner name is known internationally for quality,” MacDonald said while giving a tour of the plant on Monday.

The company was being wooed by other states for its latest expansion, but Brunner decided it wanted to keep growing in Medina. The company has access to lower-cost hydropower, which made Medina competitive with the sites in other states.

“We decided we wanted to be here and support the community,” MacDonald said.

Some axle shafts are on shelves inside the Brunner complex.

The Orleans County Chamber of Commerce will present Brunner with the “Business of the year” award on Saturday during an awards celebration at Tillman’s Village Inn. The company is being recognized for its expansion in Orleans County.

The plant is a busy factory, with steel being heated and shaped into 1,500 different parts for brakes that will be used by tractor-trailers. Steel is the company’s biggest raw material.

The company employs welders, engineers, assembly workers, maintenance staff and other skilled staff.

A large stamping machine shapes parts to be used in truck brakes.

“We have a robust training program,” MacDonald said. “We don’t need people to come in with the skills. We can teach people the skills they will need. They just need a good attitude and a willingness to work.”

Brunner also has robots at work, lifting heavy steel pieces and doing other automated tasks. Bruner’s engineering team programs the robots, which debut about a decade ago at Brunner, for various jobs.

The company has embraced automated technology for some of the tasks inside the plant.

Most of the work is performed by people, and MacDonald said the company welcomes more hard-working residents to apply for positions at Brunner.

MacDonald walks through the complex and there are sparks from welders, heat from the forges and loud noises from the stamping machine. Workers are moving product with fork lifts.

It’s a busy place.

“It’s very exciting, especially when everything is humming,” he said.

Chamber Phoenix Award: Fair Haven Treasures

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 September 2014 at 12:00 am

Ray and Linda Burke bring a grand old house back to life

Photos by Tom Rivers – Ray Burke is pictured outside Fair Haven Treasures, which opened in May after 18 months of renovations. The site will have a peace garden in the spring by the flag poles.

GAINES – Ray Burke says he was looking for a “project.” About two years ago he and his wife Linda bought a stately old house at the corner of routes 98 and 104 in the heart of the Cobblestone Historic District.

The house has been vacant for five years and needed significant renovations. Burke and a team of volunteers went to work. The site was given a new life as “Fair Haven Treasures,” a business featuring crafters and artisans. Fair Haven now has nine vendors with room for more.

The Chamber of Commerce has picked Fair Haven for its “Phoenix Award,” recognition given to a significant restoration effort. The award will be presented on Sept. 20.

“It’s a lovely old home and I’m glad we did it,” Mr. Burke said. “It’s been a lot of work and there’s more to do.”

Linda and Ray Burke are pictured inside Fair Haven Treasures on the business’s opening day in May.

Gaines Town Supervisor Carol Culhane watched the old brick house decline in recent years before the Burkes bought it. She served on the Zoning Board of Appeals with Mr. Burke a few years ago and the two became friends. Culhane suggested the Burkes buy the building and she envisioned it as a site for high-end artisans, live music and other special events.

Culhane and her husband Gerry helped bring the building back to life. They teamed with the Burkes and other volunteers to remove plywood and linoleum from the floors, and discovered hardwood floors underneath. They took out one wall to make a bigger room that can be used for performances, book-signings and public events.

“You could see the house was declining,” Culhane said. “It’s so tragic to see these beautiful stately homes decline.”

She grew up in the “Dutchtown” neighborhood in Rochester. That area in Jay, Childs and Ames streets has been overwhelmed with crime, and so many of the houses, even her old high school, have been torn down, Culhane said.

When she saw the brick house deteriorating, she worried it would meet the same fate as some of the beloved buildings of her youth.

These bowls and a table were created by Ted Hicks of Oakfield. He has other wooden furniture for sale that he made from reclaimed wood.

The 3,040-square-foot brick house was built in 1834, the same year the Cobblestone Universalist Church was erected across the street. Burke said the house is a prominent location and should be a showcase for the community.

“It’s the crossroads of the county and the crossroads of our town,” he said. “It’s a stately building that sits up on a hill.”

Burke is retired from DuPont in Rochester. The former machine shop foreman also has renovated smaller houses as rental properties. He has built his own plane and driven a Harley. He was looking for something else, a new challenge with the brick house.

“I’ve had all the toys and I’ve always been busy,” he said. “I can’t stand to sit still. This house will probably never be done. The list is on and on.”

Burke put in a new driveway and parking lot for the house, which required 1,300 tons of stone. He just added three flag poles out front and in the spring, there will be an International Peace Garden by the flags. It will be the second peace garden in Orleans County. Brown’s Berry Patch has the first.

To be a peace garden, the site needs to have a historic connection to the War of 1812. The site was once owned by John Proctor, who is considered the Paul Revere of Ridge Road. He warned residents the British were coming during the War of 1812. Proctor also gave the hamlet the name Fair Haven.

Fair Haven could be used for wine-tastings, concerts and other special events.

Culhane helps manage the site, lining up vendors and planning events. Fair Haven will begin offering “paint and sip” classes every two weeks beginning on Sept. 17. Participants can sip wine and paint in classes led by Culhane.

Fair Haven also is working with two other businesses, Tillman’s Village Inn and The Cabaret at Studio B, for an “Evening in Orleans” this Sunday. Fair Haven will host a wine-tasting from 3 to 4 p.m. before the activity shifts to the Village Inn and then the Cabaret.

Burke said he has been encouraged by the business partnerships in the community and other new business ventures. Tillman’s is expanding its dining facilities, and Ridge Road in Gaines also is home to other recently opened ventures including the Old Goat antique store, Cobble-Ridge Co-Op and the Rocking R Ranch.

He sees the Ridge Road corridor as a draw for culture and history enthusiasts.

“Things are happening in the town,” Burke said.

2 entrepreneurial couples deserve our thanks

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 August 2014 at 12:00 am

Editorial:

File photo by Tom Rivers – Joe Martillotta is pictured with Sue Holmes, who recently purchased the Crooked Door from Joe and his wife Debbie. The Martillottas did extensive renovations of the site.

File photo by Sue Cook – Jeri and Lou Becker sit in front of one of the blackboards in the Erie Canal Room at the bed and breakfast they operated for eight years.

ALBION – Two entrepreneurial husband and wife teams both pulled off major projects that bettered the village of Albion and Orleans County.

In eastern end of the village Joe and Debbie Martillotta brought back a tavern at the corner of East State and Brown streets. It was a major renovation for the Martillottas, but they were resilient in their efforts to fix up a prominent building and they did it with class.

The Crooked Door Tavern has employed about 20 people, and drawn many visitors to the county, generating sales tax and likely customers for other local businesses. The Martillottas recently sold the site and it continues under the ownership of Albion native Sue Holmes.

Just across the canal, Jeri and Lou Becker also faced a daunting project: turning a former Catholic School into a bed and breakfast. The Beckers opened the Erie Canal Schoolhouse Bed and Breakfast about seven years ago. They, too, sold their business with the site soon to open as an assisted living center.

The Beckers lovingly operated the B & B, extending a warm welcome to cyclists on the canal and other visitors to the community. They were active in the community, and were especially fond of Albion’s heritage. They hosted a Santa Claus reunion in one event that was a tribute to Charles Howard, who founded a Santa Claus School in Albion.

The Martillottas and Beckers worked well as a team, referring customers to each other. Both couples deserve the community’s praise and admiration for working so hard to build successful businesses, preserving buildings that have deep roots in Albion.

If they hadn’t accepted the challenge a few years back to fix up the buildings, there might not be businesses to succeed them at the sites. The Martillottas and Beckers have a left a legacy that should continue for years to come.