The Rochester area will soon host another food processing company, and that will mean millions of dollars in investment and 30 new jobs.
The announcement was made by Governor Andrew Cuomo who says that an Oregon-based company called OFD Foods will be building a $25 million manufacturing facility in Henrietta.
The 50,000 square foot facility is being built to help OFD better serve its Midwest and East coast customer base. The plant will focus on providing freeze-drying services in bulk industrial packaging.
Among OFD’s biggest customers is the U.S. military. As part of incentives to get the company to locate here, Empire State Development is providing up to $400,000 in grants from the Upstate Revitalization Fund.
The President & CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise, Mark Peterson, notes that the Rochester-Finger Lakes region already has a number of food processing companies who have located operations here.
“We have fresh water, we have low cost power , we have availability of raw land , we have an expertise here, a talent base that a lot of places don’t have; but this is a very competitive space,” Peterson told WXXI News. He says that OFD had been considering sites in Rochester and Wisconsin, and the Rochester area won out.
OFD will break ground on the new Henrietta plant in April and expects the project to be completed by June 2018.
The new facility will be located on some now-vacant land near 390 and Rush-Henrietta Townline Road.
