Todd Hatch, Owner, Blue Heron Bakery — Penn Yan, NY | Yates County, Southern Finger Lakes
Todd Hatch has been coming to Penn Yan his whole life.
His parents were both from there. Growing up in Iowa City, he would make the trip east with his family to spend time on Keuka Lake and visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a vacation, but it was also something that stuck — a quiet, nostalgic pull toward a place that felt like it belonged to him even before he fully understood why.
He spent most of his adult life in Portland, Oregon, where he met his partner, Catherine. For years, the idea of Penn Yan stayed in the back of his mind: a small village on the north end of Keuka Lake, surrounded by vineyards and farmland and history, the kind of place where he’d always imagined having a business someday.
In August of 2019, he and Catherine made it real. They packed up Portland and moved east.
Opening a Bakery in the Middle of a Pandemic
Catherine, who grew up in Vermont and had lived in and around New York City, had never set foot in Penn Yan before they moved there. Todd had history here; she had to build it from scratch. What she found, what they both found, was a community that made that easier than expected.
Finding housing was the harder part. They have pets, which narrowed their options considerably and made the early months genuinely stressful until they found a home of their own. Work, at least, was accessible. “It seems that everyone is looking for good employees,” Todd said.
The bakery came together in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, not ideal timing by any measure. The space they’d identified in the Village of Penn Yan had already been approved for a Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant, which helped offset some of the startup costs. They pushed through the uncertainty and opened Blue Heron Bakery in October of 2020. They missed the summer season entirely. They got through the winter anyway.
What Blue Heron Bakery Makes
Blue Heron Bakery is a small, scratch bakery producing artisan pastries and breads for both retail and wholesale customers in Penn Yan and the surrounding Finger Lakes region. Customers can expect fresh croissants, Danish, and breakfast pastries made from scratch, alongside cookies, Bavarian-style soft pretzels, and fresh-baked bread and rolls.
Todd manages the bakery and handles much of the production himself — the kind of hands-on operation that would have been a different proposition entirely in Portland, where startup costs, competition, and the sheer expense of everything would have made the math much harder.
“I wouldn’t have had the same opportunity in Portland,” he said. “Everything would have been more expensive.”
Here, the community’s scale works in his favor. He knows his wholesale customers personally. When cash flow gets tight — as it can in a seasonal market — those relationships create flexibility that a bigger city rarely allows. “Working with local businesses and having those relationships with people allows for some flexibility,” he said.
Life on Keuka Lake
Penn Yan sits at the northern tip of Keuka Lake in Yates County, at the center of a region that draws visitors for its wineries, its water, and its landscape. It’s also home to a growing Mennonite community — one that Todd has come to appreciate in practical terms. “There are many small Mennonite businesses that have skilled services,” he said. “People are friendly. I find it easy to ask around to find out information or a potential resource.”
A typical day for Todd is a working one: production at the bakery, dinner, maybe an episode of something on TV, time with Catherine and the dogs. When there’s a free hour, the options are right there: a quick round of mini golf, a picnic, a short hike to a waterfall or swimming hole, or a visit to one of the many Finger Lakes wineries nearby.
“I still love the accessibility of fun things to do,” he said, “especially since my time is limited.”
It’s a different life than Portland, quieter, more rooted, more seasonal. He gets four seasons again, which he had missed. He gets the lake. He gets the business he always imagined having in the town where his grandparents lived.
Advice for Anyone Considering a Move or a Business in the Finger Lakes
For anyone thinking about relocating to the Penn Yan area or starting a business in the Southern Finger Lakes, Todd’s advice is concrete: talk to the people who can actually help.
“Have a good business plan,” he said, “and talk to the Finger Lakes Economic Development Council. They have good input and resources, including potential loans or grants available.” He also recommends connecting with the local chamber of commerce early — both as a resource and as a way of plugging into the community that will ultimately determine whether a small business survives its first winter.
The DRI grant that helped Blue Heron Bakery get off the ground is exactly the kind of resource that exists here and that newcomers often don’t know to look for. The community, Todd has found, is generally willing to point you toward it if you ask.
Todd Hatch owns and operates Blue Heron Bakery in the Village of Penn Yan, NY, serving artisan pastries and breads on the north shore of Keuka Lake in Yates County.
Thinking about starting a business or relocating to the Southern Finger Lakes? The Finger Lakes Economic Development Council is a great first call — and our Help Me Move page is a good place to start exploring what life here actually looks like.