Announcing $1.4 Million in Dairy Processor Modernization Grant Awards

November 22, 2024 | Montpelier, VT - The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) is pleased to announce the Dairy Processor Modernization Grant Awards . Dairy processors in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont were selected for awards. Individual award amounts will range from $62,000 to $350,000 with a total of $1,476,649.50 in overall funding.

Projects from this grant will support dairy processors in modernizing their processing facilities to lead toward long-term business viability. These projects focus on installing specialized equipment, including a whipped cream cheese mixer, a precision weight cheese cutter, a vat pasteurizer, and a rotary filler-sealer. This equipment will help grantees increase production, improve employee working conditions, and reduce product waste.

In order to serve a wide range of business sizes, applicants were divided into two tiers, based on the amount of milk utilized on an average production day.

The following businesses have been selected for awards:

Tier 1 Awardees:

• Franklin Foods, VT - $123,066 to purchase and install a specialized whipped cream cheese mixer to improve the whipping process, which will reduce loss and improve product quality.
• HP Hood, MA - $350,000 to purchase a new fruit mixing unit to be installed in a new production line, which will allow them to separate blended yogurt and cottage cheese production. This will increase cottage cheese production capacity and increase labor efficiency.
• King Brothers Dairy, NY - $200,000 to increase their plant capacity, efficiency, and safety by modernizing and streamlining production through the purchase and installation of additional equipment.
• Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, NY - $62,000 to purchase two glycol chillers that will improve the pasteurization process and more efficiently cool cultured dairy products.

Tier 2 Awardees:

• All Star Specialties, NY - $147,367.50 to purchase a new chiller, ice cream rotary filler, and additional blast freezer, which will double their capacity, reduce energy costs, improve labor efficiency, and meet growing demand for their products.
• Eden Valley Creamery, NY - $112,000 to install specialized equipment, including a second cheese vat, electric curd mill, and packaging line for cheese curds. This new equipment will allow them to double their production and improve efficiency.
• Goat Rodeo Farm & Dairy, PA - $81,216 to purchase and install a precision weight cheese cutter to standardize and streamline their cutting and packaging of cheese wheels. This will allow them to increase production to meet demand for pre-cut cheeses, reduce cost of production for these products, and reduce product waste.
• Lively Run Goat Dairy, NY - $150,000.00 to upgrade their cheese aging equipment and expand their aging capacity, which will allow them to more than double their production capacity.
• New City Ice Cream, MA - $150,000 to install larger, more efficient commercial ice cream equipment, which will allow them to increase production capacity, reduce production costs, expand distribution, and create new jobs.
• Sweet Cow Yogurt, VT - $101,000 to purchase and install a new milk storage tank, milk transfer pump, vat-pasteurizer, and semi-automatic rotary filler-sealer, which will allow them to increase production capacity by 100%, eliminate plastic shrink-seal lids, improve employee working conditions, and meet customer demand.

View the full announcement on the NE-DBIC website: https://nedairyinnovation.com/dairy-processor-modernization-awards/