Chobani’s planned $1.2 billion investment in Upper Macungie Township is expected to bring more than 900 full-time jobs to the area while creating new opportunities for dairy farmers and businesses across the Lehigh Valley.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger and Lehigh Valley economic development leaders announced the project Sept. 1 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 create more than 900 full-time jobs over five years and 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, according to the Shapiro administration.

Shapiro said 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,” Shapiro said.

The company plans to establish its first Pennsylvania dairy manufacturing operation at the former Keurig Dr Pepper facility in Upper Macungie Township. The 1.5 million-square-foot facility sits within Upper Macungie’s industrial corridor and could create employment opportunities close to home for many Parkland-area residents.

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Don Cunningham and other local officials said the project’s benefits are expected to extend well beyond the manufacturing plant, generating economic opportunities for farms, suppliers, transportation companies and small businesses throughout the region.

State officials said the project will create a major new market for Pennsylvania dairy farmers. 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.

For the Parkland area, the investment represents one of the most significant recent economic development announcements. Local officials said the economic impact is expected to extend beyond the plant itself, creating 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.

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.

“Getting it reused was one of my first projects in this job,” Cunningham said. “History comes around.”

Cunningham said 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. The announcement follows several major economic development wins in the region and reinforces the Lehigh Valley’s reputation as a leading manufacturing center.

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

“The Lehigh Valley’s success has always been its focus on partnerships and not partisanship,” Siegel said.

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.”

“That’s when we all do better together,” he added.