Schenectady, N.Y., May 22, 2012 –The Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority today announced that Gatherers Granola will move its production facility to the Broadway Commerce Park in downtown Schenectady after selling its products at the Schenectady Greenmarket for the past year.
Alessandro Gerbini, President of Gatherers Granola said, “We outgrew our existing space which is leased from the All Good Bakery in Albany. We always have been well received in Schenectady County at the Greenmarket so we looked here for our new facility. We are pleased to establish operations in the downtown area which offers us everything we need to help our business grow.”
“We have worked hard to create an environment that supports local businesses through opportunities like the Greenmarket,” said Judy Dagostino, Chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature. “We are proud that our residents continue to buy local and support businesses like Gatherers Granola, a great home-grown success story. I welcome them to Schenectady County and look forward to their continued expansion.”
The company will lease 2,000 square feet of space with an option to take 3,000 square feet of additional space. Gatherers Granola will move three jobs to Schenectady and plans to add two more in the next few years.
The granola product is sold in selected Price Chopper and Shop Rite stores, the Honest Weight Food Co-op, the Niskayuna Co-op, the Delmar Marketplace and stores in Syracuse, Buffalo and Vermont.
The product is made from all natural ingredients using locally produced ingredients whenever possible.
Metroplex is providing a $7,500 grant toward the cost of renovating the facility in the Broadway Commerce Business Park to handle commercial food production. The company is investing $35,000 while the building owner is providing $18,000 toward fit-up costs.
Metroplex Chair Ray Gillen said, “We welcome Gatherers Granola to Schenectady County and we look forward to their continued expansion. Schenectady County is looking to attract food manufacturers as we have a bountiful water supply and other key factors looked at by this industry when making site selection decisions.”
Alessandro Gerbini, company President, is a graduate of the RPI’s Product Design and Innovation Program in the School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences.
The Broadway Commerce Business Park was developed jointly by Metroplex and Highbridge Development. It is an in-city business park on Broadway just off of I-890 and close to many downtown amenities. Tenants include: Griffin Greenhouse, Marcella’s Appliances, Argo Turboserve Corporation, ABC Supply Co, Inc., Plank Construction, Eurotile and Stone, Schenectady County Federal Credit Union and others.
The Schenectady Greenmarket is held each Sunday all year round from 10 am to 2 pm in downtown Schenectady. It is one of the largest fresh food markets in the Capital Region. For more information, see www.schenectadygreenmarket.org.
For more information, see www.ggranola.com or visit the company’s facebook page to see photographs of the new facility. Company contact is Alessandro (Sandro) Gerbini at 518-894-8625.