The Twenty - Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous
Number 16
Massey - Harris / Batavia Industrial Center
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In 1886, the Johnson Harvester Company of Brockport, NY moved to Batavia following a fire in the Brockport plant. Company officials chose Batavia because the railroad lines that came through the village would make the shipment of product easier. Also, local citizens purchased 14 acres of land along Cemetery Street and donated it to the company to build its plant. Cemetery Street was renamed Harvester Avenue.
In 1910, a controlling interest in the Johnson Harvester Company was acquired by the Massey-Harris Company of Canada. One of the more well known products of the Massey-Harris Company was the Clipper Combine.
In 1953, the company merged with Harry Ferguson Limited of England and became Massey-Harris-Ferguson. Five years later, the name was shortened to Massey-Ferguson.
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How Did the Company Make Genesee County Famous?
Johnson Harvester made grain harvesters and shipped them throughout the country. After becoming Massey - Harris, the company became one of Canada's first multi-national firms. The Massey-Harris name and the Batavia's plant's reputation for quality farm equipment became known throughout the world.
For decades, Massey-Harris was the county's largest employer. Everyday, the whistle would blow at noon notifying Batavia it was lunchtime. On June 6, 1958 the whistle blew for the last time. The plant closed, and the Chamber of Commerce started to look for another company to take over the building.
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Toy Massey Harris Combine |
When another tenant could not be found, Joseph Mancuso of the firm Charles Mancuso & Sons stepped in and purchased the property. Mancuso came up with the idea to rent portions of the building to small manufacturing firms until they were large enough to strike out on their own. This type of arrangement allowed startup businesses to save money and resources until they grew enough to go out on their own.
One of the first tenants to the Industrial Center was a chicken company. Mr. Mancuso was traveling around the US looking for other potential tenants and spreading the word about Genesee County. He used the chicken company as an example, and started calling it an incubator. Mancuso invented the world's first business incubator. Today, there are an estimated 5,000 business incubators in the world. In Anshan City, China there is a statue of Joseph Mancuso, the father of the business incubator.
Links:
Massey Ferguson Corporate History
Mancuso Business Development Group
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Batavia Industrial Center as it appears in 2008 |
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Forward to Number 15: Fellows v. Blacksmith / 1857 Treaty with the Seneca, Tonawanda Band