OBSERVER file photo Refresco is still investing $2 million in its Talcott Street location.

The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency is modifying three agreements for county businesses, due to requests from the businesses themselves.

The first agreement is with Refresco.

In 2023, The juice company purchased the former Carriage House and Kraft factory on Talcott Street in Dunkirk for $1.4 million to use it for storage and distribution. The building had been owned by the county IDA.

In return, the county IDA gave them tax breaks through a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement and other financial incentives.

At the recent county IDA meeting, Richard Dixon, chief financial officer with the county IDA, said the “project has changed somewhat in scope” but didn’t specify what those changes are. Because of the changes, the original agreement needed to be modified.

Rachel Gradner with CBRE Consulting attended the IDA meeting virtually on behalf of Refresco. She did not state what changes were taking place. An email sent to her after the meeting was not returned.

At the IDA meeting, Dixon noted Refresco is retaining the jobs there and is still investing $2 million in the facility.

Mark Geise, county IDA Chief Executive Officer, added that by having Refresco own the building, it is back on the tax rolls, instead of being tax exempt because it was owned by the IDA.

In a separate agreement, the IDA modified its loan with Chautauqua Utilities, a utility company that brought natural gas to the Stow area.

Dixon said they previously loaned Chautauqua Utilities $680,000. The company still owes $235,000.

The reason the agreement is being modified is because Chautauqua Utilities is being purchased by a new company. The new owner will assume the balance of the loan.

The third agreement modified was with Blackstone Advanced Technology in Jamestown.

Dixon said Blackstone had received a loan in 2022 through some COVID funds awarded to the county so it could buy a piece of machinery.

Dixon said they paid down their balance from $473,000 to $361,000. He said Blackstone is in the process of refinancing its entire portfolio, which is why the original agreement needed to be modified.

All three modification agreements were unanimously approved.