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Submitted photo of the 2016 Genesee County 4-H Horse Bowl Club. From left, back row: Alexandria Tarbell, Gabriella Rindell, Eva Rhoads, Elizabeth Rindell, and Cindy Bovier, Horse Bowl Leader. Front row: Colton Tarbell, Annalee Winnicki, Karly Smith and Katie Ewert. 

Press release:

Congratulations to the Genesee County 4-H youth who competed in the 2016 Region II 4-H Horse Extravaganza at Mid Lakes High School in Phelps on Saturday, March 5.

4-H youth from across the region came together to compete in both 4-H Horse Quiz Bowl, in which youth compete as a team in answering horse knowledge based questions and 4-H Horse Hippology, a contest in which youth participate in a written exam, identification of items shown on slides, placing and/or ID of feedstuffs or feed tags, judging, ID stations, and team problems.

The results from participating Genesee County 4-H youth participants are as follows:

4-H Horse Bowl Event Results

Senior Category:  Team placement -- 6^th of 6 teams; member: Emily Boldt.

Individual Ranking within the senior participants: Emily Boldt -- 15^th

Junior Category: Team placement -- 1^st of 7 teams; members: Elizabeth Rindell, Gabriella Rindell, Alexandria Tarbell and Eva Rhoads.

Individual Rankings within the junior participants:

Gabriella Rindell – 1^st

Alexandria Tarbell – 4^th

Elizabeth Rindell – 17^th

Eva Rhoads – 19^th

Novice Category: Team placement- 5^th of 6 teams; members: Katie Ewert, Karly Smith, Colton Tarbell and Annalee Winnicki.

Individual Rankings within the participants:

Karly Smith – 7^th

Colton Tarbell – 9^th

Katie Ewert – 10^th

4-H Hippology Event

Senior Category:  Team placement -- 2^nd of 6 teams; member: Emily Boldt.

Individual Ranking within the senior participants: Emily Boldt -- 7^th

Junior Category: Team placement -- 1^st of 9 teams; members: Elizabeth Rindell, Gabriella Rindell, Alexandria Tarbell and Eva Rhoads.

Individual Rankings within the junior participants:

Gabriella Rindell – 1^st

Alexandria Tarbell – 3^rd

Elizabeth Rindell – 4^th

Eva Rhoads – 20^th

Novice Category: Team placement -- 3^rd of 6 teams; members: Katie Ewert, Karly Smith, Colton Tarbell and Annalee Winnicki.

Individual Rankings within the novice participants:

Karly Smith – 2^nd

Colton Tarbell – 9^th

Katie Ewert – 11^th

Annalee Winnicki – 18^th

For more information regarding local opportunities in 4-H Youth Development call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County at 585-343-3040, ext. 101, or e-mail genesee4h@cornell.edu

Press release:

Albany’s apathy toward Western New York’s needs has gone on far too long. Entrenched career politicians continue to expand social spending and feed New York City’s bottomless hole of infrastructure and Medicaid desires at the expense of hard-working, middle-class families in our community. Year after year, frustration mounts as billions of dollars are funneled Downstate in exchange for political allegiance and Upstate roads and bridges continue to crumble.

Although we have made progress for farmers and successfully courted valuable new businesses, my main focuses this year are restoring parity to infrastructure funding, restoring the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) funds taken from our schools in 2010, and aiding our struggling small businesses.

Infrastructure funding is a matter of life and death. With some predicting that the upstate-downstate infrastructure funding gap will increase to $4 billion this year, a recent Rochester area story exacerbated the issue by demonstrating the desperate state of our community’s roads and bridges. Furthermore, the Lake Ontario Parkway and multitude of canal bridges in my district are in dire condition and cause significant automobile damage and safety concerns. In addition, limited access to this road prevent tourists from accessing Oak Orchard Creek, named the best fishing spot in the United Sttes for Monster NY Brown Trout in 2013. Join me in this fight and tell Gov. Cuomo and Albany’s elite that we are part of New York, too, and deserve our fair share.

An investment in our children is an investment in us all. Unfortunately, New York City politicians do not agree. They slashed billions from the state education budget in 2010 and have since ignored pleas from the education community to return what is rightfully theirs. I have led the charge to restore the GEA and this year is no different. I sponsor multiple bills to end these unfair cuts that limit our students’ opportunities and threaten inspiring teachers and after-school programs. This has to be the year we fully fund our schools.

As a small-business owner for over four decades, I know firsthand what it takes to create jobs and grow New York’s economy. Raising the minimum wage is not the answer. A $15 minimum wage will undoubtedly cause businesses to leave the state and, according to the Empire Center, would ultimately cost the state 200,000 jobs. What we need are large-scale tax and regulatory cuts for businesses instead of pay-to-play scenarios and “buying votes” with these bizarre gimmicks. Cutting business taxes will create jobs and provide greater incentives for business owners to stay in New York and keep profits local. I will fight for the mom-and-pop business owners in this year’s budget because they are the lifeblood of our economy.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department is joining nearly 6,000 fire departments nationwide in promoting the annual "Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries" campaign on Sunday, March 13.

Fire Prevention Officer Lt. Jeff Whitcombe encourages all residents to adopt the simple, life-saving habit of changing smoke alarm and CO detector batteries when they change their clocks back from daylight savings time to standard time.

“It’s an easy, inexpensive and proven way to protect your family and your home,” Lt. Whitcombe said.

Since 1987, the International Association of Fire Chiefs has joined forces with Energizer batteries to spread the message that non-working smoke alarms are responsible for needless death and injuries. Now 25 years later, thanks to the Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries campaign, home fire deaths continue to decline.

Recent surveys conducted for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Consumer Products Safety Commission found that 96 percent of all home have at least one smoke alarm, but only 75 percent have at least one working smoke alarm. Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Smoke alarm failures usually result from missing or dead batteries or disconnected wires.

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most families are sleeping. A working smoke alarm can provide the critical extra seconds needed to get people out safely.

According to the NFPA, the maximum life cycle of a smoke alarm is 10 years from the date of manufacture, not the date of installation. Beginning in 2002, all smoke detectors must have a manufacture date marked on the outside of the smoke alarm. If your smoke alarm does not have a manufacture date, then it is older than 10 years and must be replaced. The City of Batavia Fire Department recommends purchasing smoke alarms with 10-year lithium batteries. All smoke alarms should be tested monthly.

Families should also practice "Exit Drills in the Home" (E.D.I.T.H.) and have a meeting place outside the home to quickly account for all the occupants during an emergency. The meeting place should be something that is not mobile like a tree or mailbox by the street.

A carbon monoxide detector or CO detector is a device that detects the presence of the carbon monoxide (CO) gas in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. CO is a colorless and odorless compound produced by incomplete combustion. It is often referred to as the “silent killer” because it is virtually undetectable without using detection technology. Elevated levels of CO can be dangerous to humans depending on the amount present and length of exposure. Smaller concentrations can be harmful over longer periods of time while increasing concentrations require diminishing exposure times to be harmful.

CO detectors are designed to measure CO levels over time and sound an alarm before dangerous levels of CO accumulate in an environment, giving people adequate warning to safely ventilate the area or evacuate. All CO detectors should also be tested monthly. Remember, if your CO detector alarms, you should evacuate the structure and dial 9-1-1. The fire department will respond and investigate the cause of the alarm.

The City of Batavia Fire Department has a free smoke alarm and battery installation program.

According to Lt. Whitcombe, “We have installed hundreds of smoke alarms and batteries over the past 20 years and will continue to do so until everyone who needs them has them.”

For information about the free smoke alarm and battery installation program, City of Batavia residents should contact the City of Batavia Fire Department at (585) 345-6375.

Press release:

The Batavia Business and Professional Women's Club announces its annual scholarship and Community Service Awards and is calling for applications and letters requesting consideration, respectively.

The BBPW has been giving scholarships since 1961. The number and amount of the scholarships given is dependent on the club’s annual fundraiser.  Scholarships are given for high school seniors as well as a returning student from Genesee Community College and two students from Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.

Applications and all required information must be postmarked by April 9th.

Qualifications:

• Genesee County High School Senior (male or female);
• Maintained an 85-percent average;
• Complete one-page application (https://bataviabpw.wordpress.com/scholarship/bbpw-scholarship-application-2016/ or seek out the school guidance counselor as they have been provided with the information as well);
• Attach a letter of recommendation from a school staff member;
• Submit a personal essay discussing their achievements and future goals;
• Submit an essay from a parent.

Mail all required information with the application to:

Batavia Business and Professional Women’s Club

Attention: Scholarship Committee

P.O. Box 1778

Batavia, NY 14021

The BBPW also offers monetary awards for Service Groups in June.

Letters requesting consideration for Service Awards must be postmarked by April 22nd.

Qualifications:

• Please share with your local service groups that they need to send a short letter requesting to be considered for our Service Award on service group letterhead to:

Batavia Business & Professions Womens’ Club

Service Award

P.O. Box 1778

Batavia, NY 14021 

Any questions, contact Brenda Miller at bchapell1@hotmail.com

Press release:

The Genesee County Fair announced today that seven $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to current New York State high school seniors and also students enrolled in college.

The New York State Association of Agricultural Fairs (NYSAAF) and the New York State Showpeople’s Association (NYSSA) sponsor the scholarships.

The qualifying students must be active at the Genesee County Fair or The New York State Showpeople’s Association. All applicants from Genesee County must submit their applications through the Genesee County Fair or the New York State Showpleople’s Association no later than Friday, April 8.

Information is available through the Genesee County Fair at (585) 344-2424, through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County and from local high school offices. Applications must be printed and completed from the Web at www.nysfairs.org.

For more information, contact the Genesee County Fair Office at (585) 344-2424.

Press release:

The Batavia City School District is pleased to offer the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Program for students and will continue to operate the program in the 2016-2017 school year, pending New York State funding.

UPK provides an opportunity for 4-year-old children, at no cost to their families, to be involved in developmentally appropriate educational classes that, following the regular school calendar, meet Monday through Friday during the school year. Since its implementation, the District has provided a half-day program, with a choice of either morning or afternoon sessions.

Children who are residents of the District and who are 4 years of age on or before Dec. 1, 2016, are eligible to apply. Applications are available at the District’s Business Office in the administrative wing of Batavia High School (260 State St.), or by calling 343-2480, ext. 1002.

They also can be downloaded and printed out from the District’s Web site (www.bataviacsd.org) by using the pull-down menu at the top of the page labeled “Parent,” or the Quick Link labeled “Parent Resources,” then clicking on the box labeled “Registering a Student” which links to the Web page with general registration information as well as, under Related Files, the UPK information packet.

Applications should be returned by June 3.

Please note that if the YMCA is selected once again to be the community-based organization to provide UPK, they offer additional “wraparound” programs consisting of Child Watch in the morning (followed by UPK from12:30-3 p.m.), then School Aged Child Care afterward. While there is no charge for UPK, there is a charge for the morning Child Watch and afternoon Child Care programs.

Requests for placement in specific location or times is not guaranteed for either the District program or for the community-based organization that is providing a UPK program.

If there are more applicants than openings, a lottery system will be used to place as many children as possible, with the rest being placed on a waiting list. Likewise, late applications will be accepted and placed on a waiting list if there are no openings.

Press release:

Today is Small Business Day in Albany, and Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is touting New York’s small businesses as one of the driving forces of our state’s economy and pledged his support as budget negotiations heat up this month. Hawley has been a small-business owner for more than four decades and continually advocates to keep profits local and cut taxes and regulations.

“I know firsthand what it takes to succeed in New York’s suffocating business environment,” Hawley said. “Our state is continually ranked last or close to last in terms of business friendliness and economic outlook and that is unacceptable. I know many small-business owners personally and I can attest to their heart and determination to provide a great life for their families and strengthen their communities by hiring local employees.

"As we head into budget negotiations, I plan to advocate for the hard-working men and women of the business community to make New York a better place for us all.”

Hawley, a staunch opponent of the governor’s planned $15 an hour minimum wage, offered some insight into what impact that will have on small businesses.

“A $15 minimum wage, as proposed by the governor, is the wrong approach for New York,” Hawley said. “The minimum wage is already slated to increase each year for the next several years. Only in New York State do we receive a raise and then complain that it’s not good enough. This measure will kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to the Empire Center, and force businesses to relocate to other states.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported in front of Jan's Smoke Shop, 383 Bloomingdale Road, Alabama. The occupants are conscious and alert. It is blocking traffic. Alabama Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 12:46 p.m.: One patient is being transported to Mercy Hospital of Buffalo.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today called for the full repeal of the NY SAFE Act on the heels of new public safety data showing 81 percent of violations occurred in New York City, over five times more than in the rest of the state. Hawley called for his legislation, A.2651, to be brought to the floor for a vote following the release of this new data.

“As many of us said when we were getting force-fed this atrocious piece of legislation, this is an unconstitutional measure that will have little impact on curbing gun violence,” Hawley said. “The numbers are indisputable.

"The SAFE Act is little more than political pandering to liberal advocates who wanted to punish law-abiding Upstate firearm owners for a Downstate problem. I sponsor multiple bills, including A.3350, that would repeal the SAFE Act and I will continue to fight for full repeal of this ill-conceived law.”

Furthermore, Hawley is pushing for a floor vote on his “Two New Yorks” legislation, which would allow for a ballot referendum asking voters whether they support the division of New York into two separate states.

“The Two New Yorks legislation, A.4167, has been one of the cornerstones of my platform for many years,” Hawley said. “If passed, it would provide for a non-binding referendum gauging public support for the division of New York into two separate states. Unfortunately, Downstate politicians continue to block my bill from coming to the floor because they are fearful of the results.

"We should never sacrifice transparency and the public’s role in government to accumulate power and wealth. This is the time to vote on Two New Yorks, after seeing how Upstate values are continually being stifled in exchange for New York City values, and that is dangerous.”

A caller reports 10 black males, approximately ages 20 to 30, were fighting in the area of Hutchins Place and Lewis Place in the city. No weapons were displayed. They scattered in different directions. City PD responding.

A man is out of control in a hallway inside United Memorial Medical Center and reportedly struck a nurse. City police just arrived on scene.

An unidentified friend of the dog owner is holding onto the dog who is said to have bitten two people a short time ago.

Mercy medics are told to stage in the area of State Street and Hutchins Place for a victim or victims with multiple dog bite injuries. Law enforcement is responding.

UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: A German shepherd allegedly got loose and bit two people. The wounds are described as superficicial, but one person was transported to UMMC for evaluation. The dog owner was not home at the time of the incident, said Batavia Police Sgt. Chris Camp. The incident is under investigation. A friend of the dog owner, pictured, said the canine is about 2 years old.

Press release:

The Genesee Society of Model Engineers will be holding their semi-annual GREAT BATAVIA TRAIN SHOW Sunday, April 10, at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia. Details follow:

• Show Name:      The Great Batavia Train Show
• Date:                  Sunday, April 10
• Location:            Clarion Hotel, Park Road, Batavia
• Admission:         $5 adults, $2 under 18, free for children under 13
• Hours:                9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Features:            Vendor tables, door prizes, free parking

Additional Train Show information:

For more than 30 years the Great Batavia Train Show has been one of the premier hobby events in Western New York. All forms of model railroad and train-related merchandise will be available. Items offered include all scales of model trains, clothing, historic railroad items, books, videos and toys. Modeling demonstrations, and door prizes featuring great railroad items, will be part of the fun. Free parking.

About the organizing group:

The Genesee Society of Model Engineers has promoted the hobby of model railroading in the Western New York area for more than 40 years. This not-for-profit organization is headquartered at 50 Main St. in Oakfield. In our facility above the M&T Bank, our membership maintains three operating model train displays. An open house is offered free to the public each December, and visitors are welcome on Tuesday evenings.

Contact Information:

• Train Show Chairman:      Mike Pyszczek
• Phone:                  585-768-4579 (residence)
• E-mail:                  bataviatrainshow@gsme.org
• Web site:            www.gsme.org
• Mailing address:      GSME, P.O. Box 75, Oakfield, NY 14125

Press release:

The Genesee County Nursing Home was recently notified of changes to its “Star Rating” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The 160-bed Nursing Home, located at 278 Bank St. in Batavia, has improved its overall rating from 3 stars to 4 and improved in quality measures from 4 stars to 5.

The federal Web site (known as “Nursing Home Compare”) measures many statistics and awards a star rating for every nursing home in the United States. The system is designed to make it easier for consumers to compare the quality of various Homes. Ratings range from 1 star (“Much below average”) to 5 Stars (“Much above average”). The overall rating is a composite of quality measures, staffing, and health department inspections. Ratings are updated monthly.

Genesee County Nursing Home is rated 5 stars for quality measures, 4 stars for staffing, and 2 stars for health inspections – with an overall rating of 4 stars.  The rating covers only the 160-bed skilled nursing portion of the Home.

Administrator Christine Schaller said, “I’m proud and grateful to our staff for the improvements we have made during 2015, and I look forward to even better results in 2016. Our goal is to improve our performance on New York State Department of Health inspections to achieve an overall rating of 5 stars.  

The County-owned Nursing Home and 80-bed Adult Home are scheduled to be sold to Premier Healthcare Management, LLC, this year.

Press release:

After a rigorous interview process that involved constituents from all aspects of the Batavia Middle School community -- including teachers, parents and clerical, custodial and administrative staff -- the search for a new principal is down to two finalists. BMS staff, students, families and interested community members are invited to attend two “Meet and Greet” sessions to learn more about these final candidates.

• At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, Mrs. Linda Dickey, will be at Batavia Middle School. She is currently the Ithaca City School District associate middle school principal;
• At 3 p.m. on Thursday March 10, Mr. Ashley John Grillo, will be here. He is currently Holley Central School District elementary assistant principal.

Both sessions will be at BMS, 96 Ross St., in the cafeteria. Refreshments will be provided.

Applications for the position of BMS principal closed on Monday, Jan. 18, and the District received 38 diverse and impressive applications. From those, 15 applicants were invited to a phone screening interview, then eight met with a constituent committee comprised of BMS parents, teachers, staff and administrators in late February. A few final candidates met with a District interview committee before these Meet and Greet sessions were scheduled with the final two candidates. A decision and Board approval is anticipated on March 15.

Susie Boyce works indefatigably to help make her community a better place. She's got a reputation for being good at organizing, a multitasker with a ready smile and the ability to work well with behind-the-scenes colleagues who take on events, from the mundane to the sublime, fund-raising, and scores of committees.

"Susie is passionate about the organizations that she serves and gives 110 percent to everything she is involved in," said Jane Scott, of Five Star Bank, in her nomination paper. "(She) is well respected and liked throughout the community. She is fair-minded, dependable and tireless."

The Batavia resident is the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce 2015 Genessean of the Year.

(The late Barry Miller is also being honored with this award tonight.)

Scott says she has known Boyce since 2004, when they met while attending Leadership Genesee. Since then, they have worked on numerous committees and boards, and served with organizations together.

Where does Boyce get all the energy to work full time as an account executive at Lawley Genesee Insurance agency and volunteer countless hours on behalf of nonprofits?

"When you're helping people in the community," Boyce said, "you don't think about the energy or effort it takes. If you're helping others and you're passionate about what you do, you just get it done."

But she credited others for helping make her contributions possible: her employer, one that encourages community involvement; her fiance, who doesn't complain about their lack of dinners together; coworkers, who share her passion for public service; and great, smart people who serve with her in various organizations.

"It's just a part of my life," Boyce said. "I always stay busy. I volunteer because that's how I was raised. My mother volunteered. It's who I am. Luckily, I have great parents who taught me to give back."

Her volunteerism can be traced to her teenage years, when she attended Byron-Bergen High School.

These days, Boyce volunteers on behalf of Genesee County United Way for years, chairing the 2008 pledge campaign and spearheading its annual Day of Caring, which she continues to co-chair. The event brings together hundreds of volunteers to do about three dozen much-needed, long-overdue projects countywide -- from picking up trash and painting, to planting flowers and cleaning attics. In addition, Boyce serves on the United Way's Allocations Committee, helping to distribute more than $250,000 to community agencies.

The Batavia Rotary Club awarded her its highest honor for her exemplary contributions, naming her a Paul Harris Fellow. In Rotary, Boyce is the Social Director and chairs the popular annual Christmas Party, plus she serves on its Scholarship, Brewfest and Fly-in Breakfast committees.

She has served on the board of the Rochester Regional Healthcare/United Memorial Hospital since 2008 and is now serving as the hospital Foundation president. In the past, she has served on its finance and executive committees. She is chair of the Dessert Dash Committee for the annual Hospital Auction.

In Leadership Genesee, from which Boyce graduated in 2004, she was named Alumni of the Year in 2011. She has served on various Leadership Genesee committees, led day sessions, and was the former Class Radar for Leadership Wyoming's Class of 2008.

Since 2004, Boyce has volunteered on behalf of the Jim Kelly Celebrity Golf Classic, which benefits children via the Kelly for Kids Foundation.

For Eagle Star Housing, a private not-for-profit (with facilities in Pembroke and Spencerport) providing transitional homeless housing for veterans and their families, Boyce chairs fundraising events.

She's on the board of the Batavia Development Corp. and has been since 2007; currently serving as treasurer.

Annual "Walk the Villages" -- an initiative started by former NY Sen. Mary Lou Rath -- is also something Boyce participates in. Participants visit and “walk the villages” of as many participating municipalities as possible. Walkers are encouraged to learn more about each community and visit local merchants.

As for the Chamber award, Boyce said "I actually was surprised. I am humble that somebody would be honoring me as Geneseean of the Year. We live in a great community. We are lucky to have the Batavia Development Corp., the hospital, the Day of Caring, which has the most wonderful committee. There are so many good people out there."

The oldest business in Genesee County was set to shut down on July 31, 2014, nearly done in by lackluster sales and a frumpish product line, despite having outsourced 100 jobs to China in an effort to keep costs down and stay afloat.

But thanks to two local guys who stepped up and came to its rescue, creating the New p.w. minor company, the 150-year-old shoemaker and orthodics producer is still standing, striving to thrive.

Fifty jobs were retained by keeping the business, located at 3 Treadeasy Ave. in the City, in operation. Then the hard part of rebuilding began.

Peter Zeliff and Andrew Young, although the latter is no longer with the firm, invested in the business, worked with local and state officials to work on bringing back those jobs from China, hired new designers and are revamping the product line. Things are turning around. This is why the New p.w. minor was named the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce's 2015 Business of the Year.

"I honored to be named Business of the Year," Zeliff said. "I don't know that we deserve it yet. But we're moving in the right direction. It's taking longer that I had planned on, but we're going to get there."

Zeliff and Young didn't need to take the risk, but they valued a mainstay business of the local economy and did not want to see it close. Zeliff is now CEO of p.w. minor and sits on the board of Oakfield-based EIF Renewable Energy Holdings, LLC, where he once was an executive. Young is a real estate broker and investor.

"Our goal is to bring manufacturing back to Batavia and expand it," Zeliff said in August of 2014. "We are excited to be a part of the resurrection of this American icon."

The company was founded in 1867 by two brothers shortly after they returned from fighting in the Civil War. But despite its historic roots and rich tradition of making high-quality leather footwear, like many small and mid-size businesses, worldwide economic trends and the withering of manufacturing in the Northeast took its toll.

Reversing the gloomy course of p.w. minor took money, business acumen, vision and commitment, according to the leaders who embraced Zeliff and Young's plans, including Gov. Cuomo, Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, Steve Hyde, president and CEO of Genesee County Economic Development Center, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Howard Zemsky, president and CEO of Empire State Development, County Legislature Chairman Ray Cianfrini, et al.

Last year, p.w. minor outlined long-term plans to upgrade and automate its production facilities, putting the total price tag at $7.5 million. Empire State Development pledged to provide up to $1.75 million in performance-based tax credits, including a $900,000 state-backed aid package to re-shore the China jobs and add jobs.

Since the acquisition in 2014, Zeliff said 30 jobs have been added, but five of those were temporarily cut today (not the 10 as rumored).

"We expect to bring those jobs back in four to 12 weeks," Zeliff said this afternoon.

He explained that later this year -- late summer, early fall -- newly purchased production equipment should be in place in Batavia-- to help do the jobs that were being done in China. So far, Zeliff said $1.3 million has been invested in new equipment to upgrade and automate facilities here; and another $500,000 will be spent this year on shoemaking equipment, including molds, from Italy, known worldwide for shoes and leather goods.

New shoe designs were rolled out, or are being developed, that offer not just the fit and comfort p.w. is renowned for, but style, too.

There's been a big learning curve, and sometimes it's been frustrating. Zeliff said it's sometimes s-l-o-w going when it comes to dealing with state bureacracy. And developing new molds and products, likewise, has taken more time to achieve than he initially anticipated.

"I was a landfill gas-to-energy person," Zeliff said. "I may have underestimated what it takes to do this, but we'll get there."