Byrne Dairy hopes to build a yogurt plant and visitor center on a 127-acre site in Cortlandville, New York. The facility could bring 80 jobs at first and potentially hundreds more in the future. "If you're going to be in the dairy business and you're going to be in the business of making dairy products, you're going to need to be in the yogurt business in this country," said Byrne Dairy CEO Carl Byrne.
"Consumption is going up, it's portable, it's healthy and people enjoy eating it."Byrne Dairy is still waiting for site approval and says they will need local incentives and funding assistance from New York state to move forward. Garry VanGorder from Cortland County's Industrial Development Agency is optimistic that the state will support the yogurt facility.
"As you know, the governor is very supportive of yogurt development in New York State. The yogurt summit recently underscored that. And so the timing for Byrne Dairy couldn't be better," said VanGorder.
Click here to read about the yogurt summit.
If Byrne Dairy receives the incentives they are asking for, construction on the yogurt facility could start next year.
Cortland County dairy farmer Mark Rienhart hopes that the facility comes through.
"Anytime you have another processing plant that will use local milk, hopefully that will translate into increased prices for the farmers," said Rienhart.
Byrne Dairy currently operates ice cream and milk plants in Syracuse, an Ultra Dairy plant in East Syracuse, and 54 convenience stores in central and western New York. PD
—From CNY Central (Click here to read the full article.)
