ROOM AT THE TABLE - Intersight - University at Buffalo

wheat increased quickly, especially between the years of 1839 and 1859
and the Civil War of the 1860s. 3 Also, as the location of America’s “bread
basket” shifted from the eastern part of the country towards the Midwestern
states, such as Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, there was a need for
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produced for American and foreign markets.
Even though the Erie Canal was a useful corridor for shipping grain
by lake boats to Buffalo and through the State of New York, the man­made
waterway was narrow and lacked depth. The smallest lake boats were unable
to pass through the canal, and the canal boats that were pulled by horses
could not travel by water. 4 Laborers unloaded grain from the lake boats,
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delays and increased congestion of people and boats in the Buffalo Harbor. 5
Between 1835 and 1841, at a time when grain was literally unloaded on the
workers’ backs, the amount of grain that passed through Buffalo’s harbor
increased from 112,000 bushels to over 2 million bushels. 6 With the increase
in grain volume, the location was ripe for a business opportunity that would
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In 1842, an Erie County entrepreneur, Mr. Joseph Dart, and his
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elevator was comprised of a steam­driven belt with buckets that would be
lowered into a ship’s hold to gather the grain, lift it into a wooden structure,
and place it within storage bins, until the grain was lowered for shipment
or milling purposes. 8 This process allowed ships to unload approximately
1,000 bushels per hour, permitting ships to unload and leave the harbor on
the same day. By 1863, the City of Buffalo had twenty­seven (27) operating
elevators, with a total capacity of 5,835,000 bushels and a transfer capacity
of 2,700,000 bushels per hour. 9
By the 1920s, more than three million bushels passed through Buffalo
a year. 10 (V,33$(."+("/4'+(+'30/'1(B+"1%!/$E($%!4(0$(0#,&03(.''1E(F"%+E(!'+'03(
33
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LOCAL HIGHLIGHT
Steuben Foods, Inc., is a food products manufacturer
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research and development facilities in Jamaica,
New York. Steuben specializes in aseptic low acid and
extended shelf life beverages and foods. Located on
an 150 acre site in Elma, Steuben has invested more
than $200 million in the facility since it moved into the
nearly 800,000 square feet facility in 1985. Some of
the services Steuben offer includes contract packing,
private label products for large national retailer
sand wholesalers, food service packaging for frozen
and refrigerated products, and specialty services
for branded products. Their partners include major
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service operators, and retailers with private label
operators.
Last year, the Erie County Industrial Development
Agency approved $1.82 million in tax breaks for
Steuben Foods. The tax breaks, a combination of
property, sales and mortgage tax breaks, is expected
to produce an additional 100 jobs at the Elma location.
Before the passage of the tax breaks package, the
company employed 466 workers in Elma. The company
planned to add 70,000 square feet of manufacturing
space by adding an aseptic plastic bottling line that
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Foods also sought low‐cost hydropower from the
New York Power Authority, at an annual allotment of
8.75 megawatts, and a $5 million grant from Empire
State Development.
Recently, in October 2011, Steuben Foods
announced the launch of three new products
designed to appeal to the consumer. The products
are a refrigerated pudding with whipped topping,
sugar‐free mousse, and aseptic rBST‐free milk. Some
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offerings, and 8 ounce containers requiring no
refrigeration. Steuben Foods expects to start shipping
sugar free mousse and aseptic rBST‐milk within the
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topping will arrive during the second quarter of 2012.