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AgriAmerica partners named Farm Fest Grand Marshall

Submitted Photo Eric Huddy and Richard Jozwiak have been jointly named as Grand Marshals of the 51st annual Fredonia Farm Festival.

The Fredonia Farm Festival was initially created to recognize and celebrate the hard work and dedication of our local farmers. In keeping with that tradition, Eric Huddy and Richard Jozwiak have been jointly named as Grand Marshals of the 51st annual Fredonia Farm Festival, which will begin on Friday.

When we think about local agriculture, it is hard not to think about Eric Huddy and Richard Jozwiak, who are the founding partners of AgriAmerica LLC. The company was established in 2004 when the partners merged their small collection of local rented vineyards and machinery into one operation. In 2005, the operation went far beyond local when AgriAmerica purchased what was described as a “105 acre Concord grape ranch” located 2,445 miles away in the Yakima Valley of Washington State.

The company continued vineyard operations in the eastern and western US until 2010 when there was an opportunity to sell the western operation to a very large farming corporation.

Since then, the AgriAmerica farming operation has grown to ownership of 600 total acres exclusively in Western New York. Three hundred and fifty of these acres are grape vineyards located in the towns of Evans, Sheridan, Pomfret and Westfield. The company also provides farm management and custom services including mechanical grape harvesting for several hundred additional vineyard acres in the area. AgriAmerica is known for providing vineyard solutions through innovative mechanization and creative marketing of grape products. The AgriAmerica farm headquarters is located at 2465 Route 20 in Silver Creek.

To add value to locally grown fresh grapes, in 2018, AgriAmerica acquired the former Cliffstar grape juice factory located at 200 Water Street in Fredonia. Prior to AgriAmerica taking ownership, the plant sat idle and no grapes were processed there for several years. AgriAmerica immediately conducted a major revitalization and recommissioning of the facility, a project that became known to all who were involved as: “Making Fredonia GRAPE Again!” In less than four months, the plant underwent an extensive overhaul and was able to process grapes again for the first time in many years during the fall of 2018. It is now the only functioning grape processing facility that remains within the village of Fredonia. Huddy and Jozwiak credit the enormous support they received from the Fredonia community which made the re-opening of this plant possible.

Ongoing upgrades at the Fredonia factory are continuing to take place. A state-of-the-art juice evaporation system will be installed later this year to allow grape juice concentrate to be manufactured in Fredonia. Through a working relationship with Lake Erie Fruit Cooperative, the plant is now responsible for processing and providing a sustainable market for fruit grown by more than 75 local family owned farms who are members of the Cooperative. AgriAmerica plans to manufacture greater than 1.5 million gallons of grape juice at the Fredonia facility during the fall harvest of 2019.

In the local agricultural and food processing sector, AgriAmerica provides year-round and seasonal employment to greater than 40 people. AgriAmerica takes pride in the fact most of their employees have worked for the company for numerous years. As stated by Huddy and Jozwiak, “We have the daily pleasure of working with a great group of highly skilled and responsible people. It is also wonderful to have many of the same seasonal workers come back year after year. Several employees have repeatedly performed duties on a seasonal basis for 15+ years and they always seem to look forward to coming back the following season. Everyone works hard, but we enjoy what we are doing and more importantly, we enjoy and respect each other. Although none of us are related, within AgriAmerica, we are all just like family.”

AgriAmerica also has a history of generously supporting local community events. An example of this was in 2014 when the company donated greater than 60 tons (three tractor trailer loads) of fresh grapes in addition to the harvesting, transportation and handling of the fruit to the National Comedy Center Museum in Jamestown. The purpose of this contribution was to allow the Comedy Center to reenact a well-known Lucille Ball grape stomping episode that appeared on TV in the 1950s. AgriAmerica’s donation of grapes made it possible for the street of an entire downtown city block in Jamestown to be converted into a grape stomping vat for the day. The event went on to be successfully recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest number of people stomping grapes in a single vat for a given amount of time. A record number of 1,232 people participated in the Jamestown grape stomping event which broke the record previously held in Spain that only had 977 stompers.

“It was a wild and fun event to be part of. We like to think in a small way our contribution of grapes toward this event assisted in placing the concept of having a Jamestown, N.Y. based national museum on the map,” Huddy and Jozwiak stated. Today, the National Comedy Center in Jamestown is certainly on the map. It was one of just three museums to be named in the July 2019 edition of People’s Magazine annual list of “100 Reasons to Love America.”

As dedicated farmers, promoters and developers within Chautauqua County’s grape industry, the Fredonia Grange No. 1 named Eric Huddy and Richard Jozwiak as their 2015 Business Persons of the Year. More recently, at the US Small Business Administration’s Small Business Week Awards Ceremony, in recognition of their support within the small business community, AgriAmerica was presented the 2019 Small Business of the Year Award from Steuben Trust Company.

Eric Huddy grew up on a small family farm in Portland that his parents eventually sold in 2001. He is a graduate of Brocton Central School and Alfred State College with a degree in agricultural engineering. He is a member of the Fredonia Grange #1 and past multi-term president of the Chautauqua County Farm Bureau. Huddy was named New York State’s Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year by the NY State Junior Chamber of Commerce in 2000. Eric enjoys spending time with his wife Sabrina and three children at their home in Derby.

Richard Jozwiak, along with his wife Janice, still resides on the small family farm property in Fredonia where he grew up. He is a graduate of Fredonia Central School. He is a member of the Fredonia Grange #1, the National Grape Cooperative and has served multiple terms on the Board of Directors for the Chautauqua County Farm Bureau. Richard and his family are avid car racing fans. He enjoys spending time with his family, especially with his granddaughter Sophie.

Eric Huddy and Richard Jozwiak agree they were able to accomplish a lot more working as a team than they ever could have working by themselves. Both feel fortunate to have each other as business partners. They are also very thankful for the many people who have supported their growing business through the years. This includes their families, present and past employees, farm supply companies, machinery dealers, loyal customers, government leaders and other farmers. Eric and Richard also expressed how deeply honored they are to be jointly named as Grand Marshals of the 51st annual Fredonia Farm Festival.

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