Economic Development Blog

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is being lobbied to choose New York State to implement the strained Greek yogurt pilot program.

NY Gov. Cuomo at Yogurt Summit (photo – agriculture.ny.gov)

In a statement, NY Governor Andrew M. Cuomo outlined the efforts and included a letter sent to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack by New York State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Darrel Aubertine to express the state’s interest in the pilot program.

Back in January, USDA had announced that it would begin a pilot program to test the cost-effectiveness of including Greek yogurt in school meal programs.

This pilot program, which comes under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs which provide meals in public and private non-for-profit schools, will demonstrate the benefits of including strained Greek yogurt as a healthy, cost effective food entitlement for school meals.

Strained Greek yogurt offers higher nutritional benefits than unstrained yogurt with less sugar, carbohydrates, sodium and lactose as well as an increase in protein per ounce. If the USDA recognizes the higher protein content for strained Greek yogurt, schools offering strained Greek yogurt could save $.02-$.20 per four ounce cup.

In the letter, Commissioner Aubertine explained why New York should be given the pilot program.

“The production of strained Greek yogurt continues to be an enormous success story in New York, with the most recent $206 million Mueller-Quaker yogurt plant deal Governor Cuomo successfully engineered in 2012. In the last five years, New York’s yogurt plants have more than doubled in number and production.

Over the same time period, the amount of milk used to make yogurt in New York increased dramatically from 158 million pounds to about 1.2 billion pounds. In 2012 New York plants produced 553 million pounds of yogurt and in 2013 this number is projected to increase to 692 million pounds. Most of the increase in yogurt production is attributable to the introduction and production of strained Greek yogurt as well as a recently improved dairy business climate spearheaded by Governor Cuomo.”

As a result of New York’s proactive pursuit of yogurt producers, the state has received hundreds of millions in capital investments by Chobani, Fage, Alpina and Mueller-Quaker. Following the state’s first Yogurt Summit last year, new initiatives were unveiled to increase milk production while lowering cost for dairy farmers in New York.

Gov. Cuomo noted that as the nation’s leader in Greek yogurt production, New York is the natural fit to be selected to implement this pilot program.

“Our state government is partnering with the private sector to bring down barriers to business growth, and the results are showing in New York’s tremendous yogurt boom,” said Gov. Cuomo. “New York State is eager to demonstrate that serving delicious Greek Yogurt in our cafeterias will both improve the health of our children while helping our schools save money – a real win-win.”

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York State will award $25 million in funding to expand high-speed Internet access in rural upstate and underserved urban areas of New York through the Connect NY Broadband Grant Program.

NY Broadband (photo -nysbroadband.ny.gov0

Eighteen broadband projects were selected to receive the competitive Connect NY Broadband grants based on the endorsement of the Regional Councils and technical scores awarded by a committee who analyzed and ranked the projects.

In addition to the economic benefits derived from broadband access, the projects being funded by Connect NY will create 1,400 new jobs.

An important component to the selection of projects was avoiding “overbuilds,” ensuring project strategies leveraged existing network assets and requiring a comprehensive strategy to utilize broadband after projects were completed.

“The projects receiving these grants represent the very best proposals with the most potential to benefit statewide economic and community development efforts,” Governor Cuomo said. “These funds will strengthen New York’s broadband capacity and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service in unserved and underserved communities, counties and regions across the state.”

Together, these projects will build approximately 6,000 square miles of new infrastructure and will provide high-speed Internet service to 153,000 New York households, 8,000 businesses, and 400 community anchor institutions.

One of the award winners is the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Connect NYC project, a competition to fund fiber build out to small and medium businesses in the City. This project is getting $1,636,346 in Connect NY grant funding.   

Most of the funding awards are for the “last-mile” of broadband service, which means the projects will provide high speed Internet connections directly to New Yorkers.

The $25 million in state funding will be combined with a private sector investment for each broadband project, increasing the total statewide investment to more than $32 million.

The Connect NY grant program was announced in August last year in an effort to promote broadband Internet access across the state.

More than $89 million in broadband applications have been submitted through New York State’s consolidated funding application (CFA). Four projects to expand high-speed Internet into the North Country region have been awarded $6 million in funding in round 2 of the Regional Economic Development Council initiative.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) have released a JFK Air Cargo Study, with the aim of helping JFK regain its dominance in air cargo tonnage.

JFk air cargo (photo – Port Authority of NY and NJ)

The joint report was commissioned by both agencies and prepared by Landrum & Brown Inc. consultants.

“Our airports are critical to the economic well-being of our city and region,” said NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky. “The air cargo industry alone accounts for tens of thousands of jobs and generates billions of dollars in economic activity. We know, however, there is still room for improvement. The results of this study will allow us to build on our strengths, thereby ensuring that we continue to remain competitive in this important industry well into the 21st century.”

The report starts by noting that the stakes for making improvements are high. More than 15,000 people at JFK work directly in air cargo related jobs. In addition to supporting over 50,000 jobs regionally, the air cargo industry provides nearly $3 billion in wages and over $8.5 billion in sales in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area alone.

It says that changing patterns in international air traffic and the economic downturn are among various factors responsible for a 25-percent drop in air cargo tonnage at JFK over the decade from 2001-2010.

The study recommends (see page 15 in the executive summary) a revised physical master plan to guide future growth of JFK’s cargo operations.

The study includes plans to expand opportunities at JFK’s existing Foreign Trade Zone to defer taxes on goods processed in the zone, increase cargo tonnage, build new state-of-the-art cargo facilities and improve cooperation between agencies to move cargo trucks in and out of the airport more efficiently.

Bolstering the modernization, improved access and updated business practices would be the launch of a JFK Air Cargo marketing campaign to attract more business to the airport.

The campaign would stress on the unparalleled access that JFK provides to regional, national, and international markets. Promotions also would tout JFK’s ability to accommodate both freighter and wide body passenger jets with tarmac access for the largest planes in the world fleet — the A-380 and the 747-8F.

Other recommendations in the report include calls for improved communications among the Port Authority, NYCEDC and city industries, consideration of an industrial business improvement district, and creation of an air cargo unit within the Port Authority’s aviation department.

”The regional air cargo industry has few rivals as an engine for our economy, which is why it is so important to nurture and expand this vital business,’’ said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. “Working with our industry partners will create a platform for expansion of the cargo industry in New York City and the creation of additional jobs.”

Read the full JFK Air Cargo Study at nycedc.com.