County Should Support Funding For Castelli Expansion Project
Area residents have too often been let down by development projects that promised big things only to fizzle out.
We hope area residents are excited, then, by a company that is living up to its word.
Castelli America, a cheese manufacturer who took over the former AFA Foods building in Blockville after the failure of Empire Specialty Cheese Co., has asked the Chautauqua County Legislature to submit an application to the state Office of Community Renewal for Community Development Block Grant funding to help pay a portion of equipment and working capital Castelli’s pending expansion. The addition will add around 50 new jobs to the 90 jobs Castelli retained when it took over the Empire Specialty Cheese operation.
With legislative approval, the county executive would be authorized to submit a grant application for $750,000 to the Office of Community Renewal to support Castelli America’s expansion project. The resolution will go before the full County Legislature at Wednesday’s meeting in Mayville.
Paul Bensabat, Castelli America president, has made good on his promises in the past nine months. It is a stark contrast to some of the big-talking, low-producing developers to parade through the county the recent past. County legislators should stand behind Castelli’s expansion project and approve the grant application.
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