The article discusses Seneca BioEnergy, a company that converts grape pomace from wineries into products like grape seed oil, livestock feed, and fertilizer. It is one of several "transformational projects" in the Finger Lakes region promoted by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council to create jobs. The company needs funding from New York state to help expand infrastructure and equipment. While creating sustainable businesses from agricultural waste, the company aims to link environmentalism, renewable energy, and farm processing.

1. Democrat and Chronicle Sunday, October 7, 2012
INNOVATION IN THE FINGER LAKES
SEEDS OF
TRANSFORMATION
Seneca BioEnergy project one of several promoted by
regional council as potential engines for job growth
Jeffrey Blackwell
Staff writer TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECTS
The grape harvest is a manic time at Seneca The Finger Lakes Regional Economic Devel-
BioEnergy because the company that started out to opment Council identified the Seneca BioFuel
make biodiesel from corn, soybeans and grape seeds project as one of several “transformational”
is now focusing on its most immediate revenue projects in the region and is asking the state
stream, grape seed oil for the kitchen — not the car. for funding to assist the project.
Tons of pomace — the stuff left over after you
squeeze grapes to get juice to make wine — arrive Other projects include efforts to sustain and
every day at the company’s warehouse on the develop nanotechnology, like the work being
grounds of the former Seneca Army Depot in Romu- done at the Smart System Technology & Com-
lus, Seneca County. mercialization Center in Canandaigua and the
Those daily shipments, about 40 tons a day from Science Technology and Advanced Manu-
about 20 wineries in the Finger Lakes, are the first facturing Park in Geneseo.
step in a circle of sustainability that will put another Next week: We look at some of the ways
local product on the shelves of wineries and stores that the council suggests the state can support
made from the stuff they throw away. small business in our region.
Michael Coia, CEO of Seneca BioEnergy, watched
recently as grape seeds fell into a hopper at the end of DIGITAL EXTRAS
a process that separates the seeds from the skins,
stems and leaves. He said he sees many opportuni- Click in this story at RochesterNext.com for
ties in the process that turns agricultural discards an online video and photo gallery of Seneca
into useful products and sustainable businesses, BioEnergy.
such as the production of biofuel, live stock feed,
bedding for dairy cows and fertilizer for farms. SENECA ARMY DEPOT
What is needed to spur his plan is funding from the
state through the Finger Lakes Regional Economic The former U.S. Army depot was built in 1941
Development Council to help leverage financing for for munitions storage and disposal. It was
infrastructure and equipment. closed in 2000 and transferred to the Seneca
“We philosophically decided it was important County Industrial Development Agency. It
from the company’s position to link together environ- occupied more than 10,000 acres of buildings,
mental sustainability, renewable energy and agricul- warehouse, munitions “igloos” storage bunk-
tural processing,” said Coia, an environmental engi- ers, an airport and a rail system that feeds the
neer. “We think those tenets are important to an entire depot.
See SEEDS, Page 5E
The Finger Lakes Grape Seed Oil and its sister company Seneca BioEnergy take pomace, top left photo, and separate out the grape
seeds, top right, that are then squeezed to make bottles of grape seed oil, at right. PHOTOS BY JEFFREY BLACKWELL/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Obama, Romney lack credible economic plans
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Hey, there’s a Obama was right to question’s Rom- running mate, Paul Ryan, had the gall
presidential campaign going on here.
Unlike New York, where the out-
Steve ney’s arithmetic. He has said he won’t
go for even $1 of tax increases in ex-
to criticize the president when, as a
member of the Simpson-Bowles panel,
come on Nov. 6 is a given, Florida is a Sink change for $10 of spending cuts, a stri- Ryan voted against the final report.
battleground state — actually it’s the BUSINESS EDITOR dent position that puts Tea Party poli- The thing is, there are plans out
battleground state because of its size — SSINK@DemocratandChronicle.com
tics above national interest. Romney there to effectively tackle this critical
with the latest Tampa Bay Times/Miami seems to be putting almost all of his problem. I encourage you to go to
Herald poll showing a virtual tie be- eggs in the basket of economic growth www.taxpayers.org, the website of the
tween Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. where’s Obama’s fiscal policies are to cut the deficit, though robust growth nonpartisan budget watchdog Taxpay-
As a result, political ads abound on taking us. We simply can’t afford an in the U.S. might still be years away. ers for Common Sense, and read its
TV, in the newspapers, on websites. increase in federal borrowing that Frankly, after listening to the debate, report “Sliding Past Sequestration,”
After Wednesday night’s debate — both amounts to $55,000 per household over I don’t believe either candidate has a which lays out detailed plans for reduc-
the Times and Herald described Oba- the next four years, as has occurred credible plan to balance the budget and ing federal spending without taking a
ma’s performance as flat but stopped over the past four, according to Stan- reduce the debt. meatcleaver approach.
short of declaring Romney the victor — ford University’s Hoover Institution. I’ve written on more than one occa- The report is likely to irritate both
the president’s campaign launched a Romney was right to take the president sion that Obama let the country down conservatives and liberals, but that’s
TV ad asking, “Why won’t Romney to task over his failed promise to cut when he failed to embrace the debt- the point. Shared sacrifice is needed,
level with us about his tax plan?” the deficit in half. and deficit-cutting recommendations of whether it’s certain “green” programs
I’m worried about Romney’s tax But can we believe Romney, either, the Simpson-Bowles commission. But favored by Obama or certain defense
plan, too. I’m also worried about when it comes to taxes and spending? in the height of hypocrisy, Romney’s programs favored by Romney.