The Coca-Cola company is planning to build its next facility in the Rochester area.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Tuesday that the company would be building a $650 million production facility for its Fairlife brand in Monroe County. The 745,000-square-foot facility is expected to be built on Tebor Road in Webster and create 250 new jobs.
"This decision by Fairlife to expand their operations in Monroe County marks the next chapter in New York's agricultural success story," Gov. Hochul said. "New York's dairy industry serves as a crucial economic engine for our state, and this $650 million investment from Fairlife will create jobs and drive economic impact, particularly in the Finger Lakes. We were in tough competition with other states for what will be the largest dairy processing plant in the Northeast and this decision, which comes on the heels of investments from major companies like Micron and Li-Cycle, confirms that New York continues to offer a competitive business environment. Coming from a family of dairy farmers in Ireland, I am proud to have secured this major opportunity to position our state as one of the nation's top dairy producers."
Fairlife is a line of products founded in 2012 that are made through an ultra-filtered milk process that removes lactose and much of the sugar, according to the company. Fairlife also claims the process leaves behind more protein and calcium. The ultrafiltration process was developed at Cornell University more than a decade ago.
“Today’s announcement is significant and we’re happy to see the company moving forward," Greater Rochester Enterprise President and CEO Matt Hurlbutt said.
The Coca-Cola Company acquired Fairlife in 2020.
“They’re going to be leveraging the outstanding milk supply that we have here, fresh water and the food and beverage ecosystem," GRE President and CEO Matt Hurlbutt said.
Empire State Development is providing financial assistance for the project in the form of $21 million through the performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program because of the facility's expected job creation. In addition, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency is expected to apply to ESD for a $20 million capital grant to provide adequate power and other related infrastructure costs to service the site.
Webster Town Supervisor Tom Flaherty says there is lots of great reasons for Coca-Cola to come to Webster.
"Having 50,000 cows within 60 miles of Webster, that’s correct, 50,000 cows, for a dairy production facility that, as you can imagine, needs cows," Flaherty said.
It's a celebratory moment for local leaders.
”The announcement by the governor today and Fairlife is a huge boost in the arm for the Rochester economy and for the entire Finger Lakes region," Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said. "This is really a vote of confidence from a global company, from Coca-Cola that’s acknowledging that Rochester’s economy is on the move, were a great place to do business.”
“Having a company like the Coca-Cola company announce a major investment with Fairlife here is significant and it proves the point that we say every day that there are smart people who live here and there are smart businesses who are growing here," Hurlbutt said, "And we see more coming in the future.”
The facility is slated to be operational by late 2025.