New podcast features Batavia small business owners

Batavia residents looking to connect with their community now can tune in to the “Area Code: Batavia” podcast, which explores what it means to belong in Batavia through the eyes of local small business owners.

Batavia-based podcast company Area Code Audio launched last August, and owner Richard Clark released the first episode of his new show Friday.

Clark said each episode will feature one prominent small business owner in Batavia, and will explore community ties, what belonging in Batavia looks like, and hopefully allow listeners to feel more connected to their neighbors.

The first episode, titled “Limestone Coffee & Tea: A Story of Two Friends (And a Huge Risk),” premiered at 6 a.m. Friday and features an interview with the owners of Limestone Coffee & Tea. New episodes will be released every other week and be available to stream on most podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Audible and YouTube.

Visit the Area Code: Batavia website to listen to the trailer and to find links to the podcast on various streaming platforms.

Area Code Audio helps aspiring podcasters craft their product and bring it to market. Clark has been in the podcast business for 10 years and has had a hand in creating hundreds of episodes for more than 30 podcasts.

Since forming Area Code Audio, Clark has helped eight clients launch as many podcasts in his first six months of business. Clark conducts interviews on location and is available for in-person recording assistance, but does all the production work from his home studio in Batavia.

Clark works with clients of all kinds to take an idea from concept to execution, offering free consultations, and assisting with every step of production. Any business or individual interested in Clark’s services can learn more by visiting Area Code Audio’s website.

While Clark spends much of his time working with clients on their projects, he also has projects of his own design like “Podcasting for Humans” and “Area Code: Batavia,” which he produces in his free time.

“Podcasting for Humans” is for podcasters and just released its 15th episode featuring an interview with Grammy-nominated Louisville producer and artist “Yons.”

Clark said he is making “Area Code: Batavia” on his own dime because he loves doing it and because he believes it will help members of the community. “It honestly flows out of a genuine love for the town that I’m in,” he said.

He began working on the project shortly after launching Area Code Audio in August and so far he has completed two episodes and has two more in production.

Clark said “Area Code: Batavia” is sort of an experimental project and is unique in that it targets such a hyper-local audience, which has not proven to be a lucrative business model in podcasting. While he doesn’t know how well it will monetize, Clark has had the vision for the podcast for a long time, and thinks it has potential as a new approach to local media.

Clark said the podcast is intended to give people an opportunity to feel settled and content in the place that they live, and to take a deep-dive into their community in a way that isn’t being done anywhere outside of local news outlets.

“These days, people aren’t listening to podcasts about their neighbors,” Clark said. “They’re listening to podcasts about politicians and celebrities, and I think that can distort your view of the world you live in sometimes.”

Clark, a transplant to Batavia, said the podcast was inspired by a feeling he had after moving to town and wanting to belong. He said he wanted to make something for people like him, who haven’t lived in Batavia for very long and are looking for a way to establish roots and connections in their community.

Clark said like any great community, Batavia has a lot of longstanding families, but there are also a lot of people who have come to start new families, and there is a disconnect between these groups. His goal is to bridge the gap between neighbors and foster a stronger sense of belonging and kinship to the Batavia community.

“I’m just a person who has a hard time speaking up and getting to know people,” Clark said. “I wanted people like myself to have the opportunity to hear the stories of other community members, especially those who take ownership of the culture of Batavia, and maybe find ways to relate or feel invested.”

Clark said while the interview style of his podcast is not different from other podcasts, the business model is different. It aims to bring one single community together through shared experiences and connections.

“It’s not about issues, it’s about people,” Clark said. “I think we’ve sort of lost the ability to reckon with the people in our community, and this is an on-ramp towards doing that. It’s about showing that there are different types of people out there with different stories and different senses of what it means to belong in Batavia.”

Clark said he doesn’t plan to set a limit to the number of episodes in the podcast’s first season, but rather plans to keep making them every other week for as long as he can. He said small business owners will be the theme for season one, with tentative plans to move on to other community members down the road.

To subscribe to the podcast or sign up to receive the newsletter, visit https://www.areacodeaudio.com/area-code-batavia.