<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: March 4, 2004

                                    /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: March 4, 2004

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