Chobani plans a $1.2 billion investment to establish a dairy manufacturing operation in Upper Macungie Township, expecting to bring more than 900 full-time jobs and creating new opportunities for dairy farmers and businesses across the Lehigh Valley.

Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya joined state and local leaders to announce the project Tuesday during a press conference at Crystal Spring Farm in Schnecksville.

State officials described the project as the largest private-sector investment in Pennsylvania agriculture history.

State officials said the investment will provide a major new market for Pennsylvania milk. At full production, the facility is expected to process more than 3 billion pounds of milk annually, about 30% of the state’s current production. Chobani specifically requested that the announcement be held at a working dairy farm to underscore the role Pennsylvania producers will play in supplying the facility.

“Every step in the process, Hamdi and his team were thinking about how this deal could empower Pennsylvania dairy farmers and help our dairy industry grow,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

The company plans to establish its first Pennsylvania dairy manufacturing operation at the former 1.5 million-square-foot Keurig Dr Pepper facility in Upper Macungie Township.

Injecting economy

When fully operational, the facility is expected to process more than 3 billion pounds of Pennsylvania milk annually, equal to roughly 30% of the milk currently produced in the state, according to the Shapiro administration. Officials said the increased demand could benefit more than 4,000 Pennsylvania dairy farm families.

Local officials said the economic impact is expected to create opportunities for dairy farms, transportation firms, suppliers and small businesses throughout the Lehigh Valley.

“This historic $1.2 billion investment is a major win for the Lehigh Valley and for Pennsylvania agriculture,” state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, said in a separate statement. “Creating more than 900 family-sustaining jobs in our region while generating unprecedented new demand for Pennsylvania milk will strengthen our workforce, support our family farms and create economic opportunities across the commonwealth.”

To support the anticipated increase in milk production, the state announced up to $127 million in grants and loans for dairy farmers and $50 million through the PA SITES program.

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding called the announcement a landmark moment for Pennsylvania’s dairy industry and said it offers new opportunities for farmers who have endured years of fluctuating milk prices and changing markets.

“Today is a moment of hope,” Redding said. “It’s about giving Pennsylvania dairy farmers another reason to believe the next generation can be successful.”

Redding said family dairy farms remain the backbone of many rural communities and that increased processing capacity will help keep more of the economic value of Pennsylvania milk within the commonwealth.

“You’re putting food on the tables of Pennsylvania families, creating jobs and sustaining these communities,” he said.

For Ulukaya, the project reflects the same philosophy that helped launch Chobani two decades ago. He recalled purchasing a shuttered yogurt plant in New York in 2005 after seeing an advertisement for a factory that had been abandoned by a larger food company.

“I didn’t see the broken walls or how old the building was,” Ulukaya said. “I saw the people who were closing the factory.”

After receiving a Small Business Administration loan and rehiring former workers, Ulukaya rebuilt the operation into one of the nation’s leading yogurt manufacturers.

Area impact

Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., said the project builds on decades of economic redevelopment work across the region.

Cunningham said that Chobani joins a growing list of nationally recognized manufacturers that have chosen the Lehigh Valley because of its workforce, transportation network and industrial infrastructure.

“We’ve had our down years, but we brushed ourselves off, got up and have returned as one of America’s top manufacturing markets,” he said.

He said the company further strengthens the Lehigh Valley’s position as one of the country’s fastest-growing midsized manufacturing markets.

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel said the project demonstrates what can happen when municipalities, county government, economic development organizations and state agencies work together.

He called the investment another milestone in the region’s economic transformation and said the benefits will extend far beyond the plant itself.

“The folks who work in this plant in Upper Macungie will live and reside in apartments in downtown Allentown,” Siegel said. “They will visit main streets in Emmaus and Coopersburg, and they will patronize businesses all around the Lehigh Valley.”