Geneva Experiment Station receives $3.4 million in state funding for expansion

GENEVA, N.Y. — New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio today announced that he has helped secure $3.4 million in state funding to begin a major expansion at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.

The funding will be used to modernize the Fruit and Vegetable Processing Pilot Plant, the main facility in which the New York State Food Venture Center carries out product and business-development operations. The Food Venture Center serves 2,500 companies per year, many of which are startup food-processing businesses. 

“This funding is a gigantic first step in bringing the food science mission of Cornell into the next century,” Nozzolio (R–54th Senate District, which includes parts or all of Cayuga, Tompkins, Wayne, and Seneca counties) said in a news release. “This mission has been successful in growing food processing jobs throughout New York State and this funding will give the Experiment Station the tools necessary to continue on the cutting edge of food processing developments.”

The Food Venture Center works with small and large-scale food entrepreneurs to meet the regulatory, safety, and stability standards required to produce products for sale.

Since 2000, the Food Venture Center has approved 6,600 products for 1,718 entities, generating 859 full-time and 1,718 part-time jobs, according to the Nozzolio news release. In 2013, 836 products for 265 entities were approved in New York. That translates to 132 full time and 265 part time jobs. 

“We are extremely grateful to Senator Nozzolio for securing this significant funding for the Fruit and Vegetable Processing Pilot Plant at the Experiment Station in Geneva,” Tom Burr, director of the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station, said in the release. “This funding will be transformational for the Food Lab and will help make essential modifications to ensure it remains a state-of-the-art facility.”

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com