May 2024 – (Designated as the Annual Meeting) The Board met on May 23rd to elect our officers and add one new member – Chris Pellicano. Bill Wagner was re-elected Chairman, Vic Montalbo will remain Treasurer, Rich Torcasio will stay on as Secretary. The Vice Chairman role will be vacant for the time being with the resignation of Tom Kontak. All ABO updates are in place and submitted. Under old business, the Lions Club repaid the $17,000 loan with $71 interest for being a couple days behind on the total payment. Since the project was fully funded by Niagara County, the LDC was not concerned about receiving the money. It was just a matter of timing.
May 2023 – (Designated as the Annual Meeting) The Board met on May 9th to elect our officers and add two new members – Jennifer Ranaletti and Tom Kontak. Both bring a wealth of knowledge and business experience to the Board. The main piece of business besides organizational issues was the Approval in Principal for the Lions Club project on Ward Road. They have received $115k in Niagara County funding for the property improvements, however it is a reimbursable grant, so they need the money up front and will repay as each phase is completed. The Board agreed to grant the Lions their first approval for $17k pending the completion of signed paperwork that is currently being prepared. To avoid a conflict of interest, new Board member Tom Kontak abstained and LDC Attorney Bobbi O’Toole is having an alternate attorney prepare the legal documents as she is also a Lions member.
March 2023 – After sitting idle for 2 years, the WLDC Board met again in January and February 2023 to approve the minutes of previous meetings and to discuss the future of the organization. It was determined that we should continue to function and look to add more Board members after the death of Richard Muscatello and the resignation of Bob Cliffe. All members will continue in their current roles until the Annual Meeting to be held in April 2023.
B Wagner will take over the role of Secretary temporarily until a new person can be elected.
The WLDC currently has over $96,000 in the bank due to both Jacobs ladder and Pellicano’s repaying their outstanding loans in full during our lull.
Barge Brewing never came to fruition and therefore the WLDC does not have any active projects at this time.
3 potential new Board members attended the Feb 28th meeting and we will look to add them in April of 2023 if they are interested in joining.
December 2019 – The Pellicano’s grant has been closed on between the 2 entities and is in full effect. The WLDC is currently working with the Town of Wheatfield on a similar size deal for Barge Brewing Company, LLC located at 2490 Niagara Road. This will be a conversion of the existing property (The Meeting Place) into a restaurant/bar, event space and small batch craft brewery. It is expected to create 21 new jobs. An opening date is not set, but later in 2020 is expected assuming everything falls into place. An RFP for consulting services is expected to go out in Q1 2020.
May 2019 – The WLDC continues to work with Pellicano’s on their new location. As of May 2019, the WLDC, in conjunction with the Town of Wheatfield and the OCR (Office of Community Renewal) are working to rescind the grant money allocated to Big Thunder Brewing. Their project is not ready to move forward at this time. If that situation changes, we will re-engage with them and OCR to see what grants we can apply for on their behalf.
October 2018 – The WLDC has participated along with the Town of Wheatfield and consultant H. Sicherman in the Jacobs Ladder project review with the New York State Homes & Community Renewal. We expect a report to be generated on project performance and guidance in the near future.
September 2018 – The WLDC is positioning itself to take action on 2 projects at this time. We have been assigned by the Town Board the Pellicano’s OCR grant and will be working towards obtaining a consultant. We have also received word that the Big Thunder Brewing project is back on track and will also be working towards obtaining consultant services for that as well. The Jacobs Ladder project will undergo a review from New York State Homes and Community Renewal in the very near future to evaluate progress and schedule a closeout. From the WLDC’s perspective, Jacobs Ladder continues to make timely payments on their term loan obligation and we believe they have fully satisfied their hiring/job creation obligations. The State will make that final determination but we expect it to go well. Payments will continue from Jacobs until the full term loan is satisfied.
August 2018 – The WLDC is still in the process of working with Big Thunder Brewing to move that project forward. There are no further updates at this time. We are also evaluating another local business opportunity and will have more information available once it becomes public.
June 2017 – The WLDC is working with the Town of Wheatfield on a $750,000 CDBG grant for Niagara International Sports & Entertainment dba Big Thunder Brewing. The proceeds from this grant will be to purchase brewing equipment for their location in the old Save-a-Lot store at the Summit Park property. Completion of the project is slated for Q1 2018.
Dec 9, 2016 – The Wheatfield LDC would like to announce the completion of our first project. In conjunction with the Town of Wheatfield, a $100,000 grant was obtained from the Office of Community Renewal (OCR) for Jacobs Ladder to assist with capital improvements and the hiring of additional workers. The package consists of a Term Loan to be spread over a number of years and a Deferred Loan that may be forgiven should OCR guidelines and the LDC contract requirements be met within the stated time frame. LDC Chairman Bill Wagner states “It is an exciting accomplishment for the LDC. Our stated mission is to assist with business development in the Town of Wheatfield and we are proud to have completed our first project. We look forward to finding more opportunities for job growth and business expansion in Wheatfield.”
2016 – The Wheatfield LDC is currently in the process of evaluating a Community Development Block Grant opportunity for Jacobs Ladder in conjunction with the Wheatfield Town Board. The purpose of this grant will be to assist the company in meeting certain capital requirements related to their expansion into the property located at 6292 Walmore Road. Jacobs Ladder is an exercise equipment manufacturing company.
RFP – Community Development Block Grant Administrative Services