CHATEAUGAY, N.Y. — Agri-Mark has completed the nearly $30 million expansion and modernization project at its cheese-manufacturing facility in Chateaugay in Franklin County.
The expansion, which was a multi-phase project, is retaining more than 100 full-time jobs and supporting more than 500 agricultural jobs in the region, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a June 16 announcement.
Empire State Development is supporting the dairy-processing facility’s expansion with $6 million in funding, including $4 million in Economic Transformation Program funds.
Agri-Mark’s North Country facility produces Cabot and McCadam cheese products, Hochul’s office noted.
Agri-Mark is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts. Agri-Mark, Inc. is a dairy cooperative and certified B-Corp that’s owned by hundreds of farm families throughout New England and upstate New York, per a news release on its website.
A ribbon-cutting event marked the completion of a 9,600 square-foot expansion. The most recent addition was a cheese-production room, which has “improved the facility’s efficiency.”
The expansion project also included the rebuilding of the 110,000-square-foot manufacturing center, reconfiguring the layout of the facility, and purchasing new equipment and machinery, per Hochul’s office.
David Lynn, CEO of Agri-Mark, called it a “special day” for the company, the plant and its employees, and especially for its 174 dairy-farm families in the North Country.
“This modernization project solidifies our long-term presence in Chateaugay,” Lynn said in a statement. “It ensures that we’ll have a sustainable facility that can process the milk our farmers produce, provide a safe, modern workplace for our employees, and continue to produce the award-winning cheeses our customers and consumers have to come to expect from our McCadam and Cabot brands.”