<PAGE>
                                                                   Page 15 of 17

                               GENESEE CORPORATION
                                AND SUBSIDIARIES


                                   EXHIBIT 31

I, Stephen B. Ashley, certify that:

     1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Genesee
          Corporation;

     2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
          under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
          the period covered by this report;

     3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
          information included in this report, fairly present in all material
          respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
          of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
          report;

     4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
          defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
          control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
          13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

          a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
          material information relating to the registrant, including its
          consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
          entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
          prepared;

          b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
          caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed
          under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

          c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
          controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
          about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
          of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
          evaluation; and

          d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
          most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
          reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting; and

     5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
          on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
          reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
          registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          functions):

          a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
          design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
          are reasonable likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
          other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
          internal control over financial reporting.


Date: September 10, 2003

                                      /s/ Stephen B. Ashley
                                      ---------------------------------------
                                      President
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                                                                   Page 16 of 17

                               GENESEE CORPORATION
                                AND SUBSIDIARIES


I, Steven M. Morse, certify that:

     1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Genesee
          Corporation;

     2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
          under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
          the period covered by this report;

     3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
          information included in this report, fairly present in all material
          respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
          of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
          report;

     4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
          defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
          control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
          13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

          a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
          material information relating to the registrant, including its
          consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
          entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
          prepared;

          b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
          caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed
          under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

          c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
          controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
          about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
          of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
          evaluation; and

          d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
          most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
          reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting; and

     5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
          on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
          reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
          registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          functions):

          a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
          design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
          are reasonable likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
          other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
          internal control over financial reporting.

Date: September 10, 2003

                                      /s/ Steven M. Morse
                                      ------------------------------------------
                                      Vice President and Chief Financial Officer