Tag: economic development

Aug 7

2023

No action on Amazon’s warehouse in Niagara

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One year after winning $124 million in tax subsidies from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, Amazon has taken few steps to build its promised 1,000-employee warehouse in the Town of Niagara. On Monday, the 217 acres of land along Lockport Road where Amazon plans to build its three-million-square-foot facility remained vacant. No earth had been moved, no stakes were in the ground. No construction equipment was present. In response to the delay, the IDA is now poised to grant Amazon a six-month extension on its subsidy package. The extension — which the IDA’s board will consider Wednesday — indicates[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 27

2023

Mayor, Council cut deal to bail out Braymiller

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The Buffalo Common Council on Thursday voted to approve a package of  funding for small businesses across the city, a pot of money Mayor Byron Brown’s administration conjured out of pandemic relief aid to make a $563,000 forgivable loan to a downtown grocery store more palatable to lawmakers. Under the plan, Council members will each have $389,000 earmarked for small business grants in their districts, with an additional $2 million in loan funding also available. That $5.5 million package passed Thursday alongside a plan that reallocates $59.9 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding from various proposed community programs[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 13

2023

Company seeking subsidies circulates fake study

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A plastics manufacturer seeking tax breaks to build a plant in Lockport has put its application on hold after being called out Thursday for circulating a summary of a study that was fabricated and produced by artificial intelligence. Prior to a public hearing Thursday, the India-based firm SRI CV Plastics, seeking $312,000 in subsidies from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, provided the agency’s board a one-page summary of a study that touted the safety of PVC pipes, one of the products the company plans to make at the plant. A University at Buffalo professor, Lourdes Vera, called out the company’s[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 11

2023

Risks vs. benefits of proposed Lockport plant

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An India-based plastics company is seeking to build its first U.S. plant in the Town of Lockport, despite strong objections from environmental groups who argue such a facility could harm human health and the environment. But the plant’s potential ecological impact isn’t the only issue up for debate: The firm wants tax breaks, and could further benefit from a limited environmental review. SRI CV Plastics Inc. is seeking $500,000 in subsidies, including $311,856 from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, to build a $2.3 million, 14,000-square foot factory in the Lockport Industrial Park. The firm’s CEO, Varunkumar Velumani, said he plans[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 29

2023

Yet another subsidy for local meatball maker

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A West Seneca-based frozen food manufacturer — the rumored maker of Olive Garden’s meatballs — won yet another tax break from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday, its third since 2016. And that’s not counting six previous low-interest loans the IDA has granted to Rosina Food Products dating to 1981. The company manufactures frozen Italian food products, including meatballs, ravioli and pizza toppings. In a unanimous vote, the IDA board of directors approved $749,000 in property, sales and mortgage tax breaks for Rosina. Executives said the company will use the tax breaks to renovate and expand two buildings[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 27

2023

Council nixes grant to downtown grocery

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The Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday voted down a request for a $563,000 loan for the Braymiller Market, a downtown grocery store that’s previously received subsidies and other public assistance. The proposed funding drew outcry from some residents who argued that if the city was going to spend COVID-19 relief funding on a grocery store, it ought to support a store on the East Side, rather than downtown. That issue, the lack of supermarkets on the East Side, was highlighted after last year’s attack on the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, which caused the store to close for several months. The[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 7

2023

Podcast: How tax breaks deplete school budgets

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Last week, Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker reported on tax subsidies distributed by industrial development agencies — subsidies that deprive school districts of millions of dollars each year. In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, host Garrett Looker sat down with Shoemaker to talk about his months-long analysis into how tax subsidies are affecting school districts. Watch via YouTube or listen as a podcast.

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 5

2023

Feds pause permit for critical industrial park work

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Editor’s note: Investigative Post and the Niagara Gazette share selected stories, including the following report from Mark Scheer, who previously worked for Investigative Post. A federal agency has put a hold on a permit for construction of a piece of infrastructure critical to the development of a sprawling industrial park in Genesee County. An official representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has informed the Tonawanda Seneca Nation that it intends to take another look at the potential environmental impact of a wastewater pipeline that would connect a 1,250-acre industrial park in rural Genesee County to Oak Orchard Creek and Lake Ontario.[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post