Chautauqua County has fallen into an outhouse and came out smelling like a rose.

Three years ago, state and county officials put together a package to help Empire Specialty Cheese locate from Cattaraugus County to the former Fairbank Farms building in Blockville, retaining existing jobs in the facility with the promise of 204 new jobs over the course of five years. Those promises convinced the state to give a $600,000 grant while the county provided a $300,000 loan fund and a $300,000 deferred loan from the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency.

Almost immediately, it was difficult for Empire Specialty Cheese to make good on its promises. It took almost two years after the initial announcement for the company to actually begin making cheese. At its high point, the company employed 90 people. Empire Specialty Cheese came perilously close to filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy before being bought out at the last minute by an unnamed company that plans to make the Blockville facility its new corporate headquarters. The best part is the new owner could bring hundreds of new jobs to the area.

It should be troubling that we have been so desperate for new jobs that our area has struggled to attract companies that have the working capital necessary to open and thrive. As happened with MVP Plastics, the Rae Foods pierogi factory in Westfield and now with Empire Specialty Cheese, to name a few, the county has been promised the world only to see well-meaning people struggle to have the financing necessary to make good on the promises they made. These stories will repeat themselves until Western New York has the tax and regulatory climate necessary to attract investors with more money and access to capital.

We were collectively lucky a buyer emerged for Empire Specialty Cheese – but local officials appear to have capitalized on their luck. Kudos to all of those involved, including Kevin Sanvidge, county IDA director; Rich Dixon, IDA special project manager, County Executive Vince Horrigan, state Sen. Catharine Young and anyone else who played a role in making lemonade out of what could have been a very bitter lemon.