By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

Months after giving serious thought to relocating to Ohio, the owners of English Pork Pie Co. LLC have decided to remain a Buffalo-based company.

At least, they say they hope that's the case.

English Pork Pie will stay here if it receives a public-sector incentive package that helps make possible its lofty expansion plan.

Damian Parker, who founded the company with his wife, Vicky, said they both want to stay in the area — but they need some incentives to do so.

"Everything we want to do is subject to incentives," Damian said. "We can't go forward without them."

The couple reached out to Western New York officials, including representatives of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. Talks are continuing.

"We've gone as far as we could without the incentives," Parker said.

English Pork Pie makes a variety of specialty pork and beef pies, as well as other English food favorites such as Cornish Pastries and Sausage Rolls. The British-born Parkers started their company more than two years ago. It gradually expanded and, until August, had leased 6,000 square feet on Broadway in Cheektowaga.

The Parkers said they planned to phase out the Cheektowaga operation and shift to a suburb in Youngstown, Ohio, where they had an option on a 24,000-square-foot building.

Just days before the deal was completed, however, they found space in a 37,000-square-foot plant at 1176 South Park Ave. in South Buffalo - the former Village Farms property at the former Republic Steel. The plant comes with seven acres of land.

The Parkers have the property under contract.

"It's a fantastic building," Damian said. "It was too good not to take seriously."

The property would also allow them to follow through on their dream of creating a "British Village" with small shops selling freshly made British desserts, breads, ales, fish and chips. There also would be an authentic pub, they said, and possible housing

Also in the works is an automated pie-making machine that would enable English Pork Pie to achieve a greater flow of product not only for the company but other retailers. Talks are under way with Wegmans Food Markets and Premier Gourmet Shop, for example.

The Buffalo market is ideal for a number of reasons, Damian said. His company enjoys an established base and easy proximity to Canada. The British village concept would be heavily marketed in Southern Ontario, he added,

The entire complex could employ more than 100 people.

But incentives are the key.

"At this point, I'd say we're about 60 percent positive we can put something together in Buffalo," he said. "We are trying our hardest to stay and expand here."