For the past three decades, New York State has been growing its national leadership in shovel-readiness programs benefiting economic growth and industry attraction. New York State and Empire State Development have prioritized investing in industrial infrastructure by providing capital grants to develop future and existing manufacturing sites across the state. Launched in 2022, the FAST NY (Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York) program illustrates the benefits of proactive site investments for attracting major companies, allowing them to more quickly establish and operationalize manufacturing facilities throughout the Empire State.
Through FAST NY, ESD is providing $400 million in grants to municipalities and municipality-designated EDOs and IDAs to prepare and develop (i.e. pre-permitting activities as well as water, sewer, transportation, and gas upgrades) new and mature sites statewide to jumpstart New York’s shovel-readiness and increase its attractiveness to large employers, including high-tech manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, interstate distribution, and logistics businesses. Since its launch, the program has helped diversify New York State’s economy while catalyzing new investments for businesses, communities, and job creation. Giving companies the ability to move into ready-to-build spaces and expedite their operations gives New York State a competitive edge over other states for businesses considering multiple locations. As of April 2026, ESD has awarded just over $333 million to 41 sites across the state and upgraded over 4,700 acres of industrial property, which has attracted major companies to build their facilities at these sites and create over 2,000 direct jobs and $2+ billion in capital investment.
Shovel-Ready Success
The FAST NY program made a splash in 2023 when fairlife, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, was deciding where to build their new dairy processing facility. The company was founded in 2012 with a mission to change the American diet through milk. By leveraging an in-house patented cold, ultrafiltration process, the company was able to achieve a more nutritious product with 50% less sugar and 50% more protein than regular milk products while also being lactose free.
As fairlife continued to grow, resulting in the acquisition of the company by The Coca-Cola Company in 2020, a need for a new large-scale processing facility became a necessity. When considering locations for the facility, ESD’s investments in site development helped secure the company’s future in New York State, at a FAST NY-supported shovel-ready site in the Town of Webster, Monroe County. At the time of its 2024 groundbreaking, the facility was set to become the largest dairy production facility in the Northeast – one of the largest in the United States (since then, Chobani has announced plans for expansion at another FAST NY-supported site that, when finished, will be the region’s largest). largest).
For site improvements, ESD provided $20 million through FAST NY to the County of Monroe IDA to upgrade the site in Webster. Other state incentives and funding helped further support the project’s success, including $21 million from ESD’s Excelsior Jobs Program for performance-based tax credits in exchange for jobs creation and investment and an additional $20 million provided by the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation to help the town upgrade its wastewater treatment plant. fairlife is making a $650 million investment into the area through the new 745,000-sq.-ft. production facility, which anticipates being operational mid-2026, along with the creation of 250 new jobs. The facility will process five to six million pounds of locally sourced milk per day from more than 850 regional dairy farms.
In addition to the significance of FAST NY in the fairlife's site-selection story, New York’s rich dairy and agricultural assets play an important role – both statewide and in the Finger Lakes region, where Webster is located. According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the dairy industry is the largest single segment of New York's agricultural industry, with nearly 3,000 dairy farms supporting national rankings as the country’s fifth largest producer of milk, and top national producer of yogurt and cottage cheese. Agribusiness has added significance for Governor Hochul, who at the fairlife groundbreaking referenced her family’s Irish dairy farming roots as “personal to me,” adding that "soon, it will be personal to thousands of Finger Lakes residents who will have access to jobs and economic opportunity. I'm committed to making strategic investments in New York’s agribusinesses to secure our place as one of the top dairy producers in the nation, create good manufacturing jobs, and move our state’s economy forward.”
Along with fairlife other large-scale dairy companies are expanding operations in New York State, including Great Lakes Cheese, BelGioioso Cheese, and Cayuga Milk. Some of these companies’ decisions to grow were also made easier by expanding to other FAST NY–enhanced improved sites in the state. At an August 2025 FAST NY event, the Governor summed up the program’s advantages for businesses, from agriculture to semiconductors and beyond, noting that “Companies like Micron, Edwards Vacuum, Chobani and fairlife want to come to New York because we have the hardest working individuals, and having shovel-ready sites makes New York State an international competitor for world-class companies to expand their operations here.” Further underscoring fairlife‘s commitment to operating in New York State is the long history of its parent, The Coca-Cola Company, doing business in New York State. Data on the company website reports $2.6 billion in economic activity in New York State, $1.3 billion in goods and services purchased each year, more than 2,000 direct Coca-Cola jobs and support for more than 28,000 jobs in the value chain. Jennifer Mann, Coca-Cola EVP and President North America Operating Unit, said the new facility “builds upon our [Coca-Cola’s] strong legacy” in the state and how long-term commitment intertwined with state support has created a meaningful partnership.
The Future of Site Development in New York State
New York State is further building on its site selection attraction efforts through a new POWER UP (Promote Opportunity with Electric Readiness for Underdeveloped Properties) grant program, launched in November 2025. POWER UP acts as a complement to FAST NY by providing $300 million in grants to develop the electrical infrastructure at these same types of industrial sites statewide. Power access and capacity have become a major component of the site selection process for site-selectors and prospective companies and POWER UP was created to address those needs. With the two programs, Governor Hochul has committed more than $700 million in funding for site development to attract the industry and talent to continue to keep New York State competitive in an evolving economic development landscape.
While the complete economic impact of fairlife’s arrival hasn’t been fully felt yet in Monroe County, the production facility will serve to strengthen New York State’s leadership in the agribusiness industry and prove the effectiveness of its site-readiness push. Having tapped into the potential that New York offers, fairlife is a model of success for other companies looking to grow here, aided by ESD and state incentives that support nation-leading infrastructure development.
Learn more about New York State’s shovel readiness programs and our premier selection of industrial sites statewide: esd.ny.gov/site-selection.