N.Y. growers group donates its funds for ag labor projects

After nearly 60 years of operating housing facilities for farm workers in the heart of New York's fruit and vegetable growing region, the Wayne County Growers and Processors has decided to disband and donate all remaining funds -- $150,000 -- to Cornell. The money will be used to support education and research on agricultural labor in the Department of Applied Economics and Management (AEM).

"We wanted the money to go where it would benefit farm employers and their workers," said William E. Bishop Jr., president of the Wayne County Growers and Processors and chairman of the board of Sodus Cold Storage Co. Inc. "We feel that funding Cornell extension projects is the most effective way to accomplish this objective."

Thomas Maloney, senior extension associate in AEM whose extension program seeks to improve the skills and abilities of farm employers to attract and retain a productive, satisfied workforce, noted that our entire agricultural economy depends on the hardworking people employed on farms. "Workforce issues continue to be a major concern for New York farmers," he said. "These funds will be used to continue applied research and extension projects in agricultural labor policy and human resource management."

Maloney announced the gift on behalf of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the Jan. 25 Robert Becker Forum in Liverpool, N.Y., an annual gathering of the state's food and agricultural producers that Maloney chairs. According to Maloney, the Wayne County organization wanted to fund something that would continue in the spirit in which the money had been raised, which was helping growers and processors with their workforce needs.

The Wayne County Growers and Processors organization was formed after World War II, largely to house Puerto Ricans who came to work in fruit and vegetable processing plants in western New York. After many years of operating worker housing in Marion, Williamson and Lyons, the group sold the facilities one by one. Last fall, Bishop and two other remaining board members, Dave Smith and Gary Verbridge, took steps to formally disband the organization and distribute the remaining funds.

More than 130 participants gathered at the 2010 Robert Becker Forum to hear speakers address immigration reform, immigration enforcement and coalition building around immigration issues in agriculture. The forum precedes the Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo, the annual trade show, marketing and educational conference for agricultural producers in the Northeast.

Linda McCandless is director of communications for CALS.

Media Contact

Blaine Friedlander