Empire State Development (ESD) today announced that Assured Edge Solutions plans to grow its manufacturing operations at the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in the City of Geneva. The custom vegetable processing and co-packing company will move from its current location on the campus into a new building that will be under construction soon. Moving into the new space will allow the innovative company to create up to 21 new jobs; 14 jobs will be retained. Assured Edge Solutions expects to be operational in the new space in the fall of 2021.
Empire State Development Acting Commissioner and President & CEO Eric Gertler said, “The Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva, with its focus on agribusiness-related biotech research, has been instrumental in Assured Edge Solution’s continued growth. Their collaboration is a great example of what can be achieved when our top-tier universities partner with New York State businesses.”
ESD is assisting Assured Edge Solutions with the expansion project with up to $150,000 through the Excelsior Tax Credit Program. Ontario County and Greater Rochester Enterprise also collaborated on the project. The total project cost for the relocation has been placed at $201,000. The expansion of the second building at the technology park where Assured Edge Solutions will be located is also being supported by a $1.47 million federal EDA grant and a $500,000 Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) round five grant from Empire State Development.
Dan Rao, President of Assured Edge Solutions said, “We are very excited to be able to partner with Empire State Development to expand our operations as well as remain local here in the City of Geneva. We identified the area’s need to have small to mid-size custom vegetable processing and co-packing capabilities and as a result our company has grown significantly. We look forward to this next phase of growth.”
Assured Edge Solutions, which was founded in 2012, produces custom ingredient and co-packs for a variety of customers. Their operations range from raw ingredient processing to custom blend manufacturing. Additionally, Assured Edge Solutions partners to co-pack organic frozen vegetables for a major local retailer. The company has been running its manufacturing operation at the Technology Park since 2017.
The Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in the City of Geneva is a seventy-two-acre research, development and production campus that is fostering the needs of food and agriculture companies, additionally offering access to college faculty and facilities. Through this public-private initiative, start-up companies, small businesses, and large multinational companies alike are leveraging the resources they need to thrive.
Cathy Young, Director of the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture said, “AES is a prime example of a successful food startup that is growing by leaps and bounds, and their progress proves that New York State is an outstanding place to accelerate your business. Dan Rao and his team are great innovators whose story of hard work and perseverance is an inspiration to other entrepreneurs. Their journey of beginning in the incubator space at the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and expanding to a new manufacturing building on site is a clear demonstration of the incredible ecosystem that exists through Cornell AgriTech, the Center of Excellence and local, state and federal partners. We are grateful that ESD is providing these economic development incentives to grow jobs and opportunities that will reap benefits for families and the region’s economy.”
State Senator Pam Helming said, “Assured Edge Solutions is a Tech Farm success story and I congratulate CEO Dan Rao on this exciting expansion. AES’ growth reflects what an incredible asset we have in Cornell AgriTech as an economic driver for food, beverage and ag businesses. As a member of the Cornell AgriTech Advisory Council, I am proud to champion their work and to support the City and County in putting Geneva, Ontario County and the Finger Lakes on the map as a leading location for food, beverage and ag businesses. Thank you to Empire State Development, Ontario County and everyone involved for this shared commitment to growing businesses and jobs in our vital ag and food industry.”
State Assemblyman Jeff Gallahan said, “Agriculture is an extremely important sector of our local economy. The expansion of Assured Edge Solutions is a testament to the success of the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and their work to incubate agriculture businesses. This new project will bring good paying agriculture jobs to our community. It is great to see the hard work of Empire State Development assist in expanding Assured Edge Solutions in the City of Geneva.”
Ontario County Industrial Development Executive Director Mike Manikowski said, “As Chairman of the Tech Farm Board and as the Economic Development Director for Ontario County I am happy to learn of the State’s support for Assured Edge Solutions (AES). AES, headed by its CEO Dan Rao, has been a tenant of ours for several years now. We welcome their growth and see them as an anchor tenant for Tech Farm 2. The innovative products that AES produces have added to the Finger Lakes agricultural bounty and provided good stable jobs for the City of Geneva and Ontario County. Working in partnership with the City, County and State the Tech Farm continues to add new innovative ag, food and beverage businesses to our area.”
Matt Hurlbutt, President and CEO, Greater Rochester Enterprise said, “Assured Edge Solutions is thriving in the Greater Rochester, NY region because of the world-class R&D assets at Cornell AgriTech, fully integrated food and beverage manufacturing supply chain, and highly skilled talent. The GRE team connected Assured Edge Solutions to local partners and resources to accelerate their business growth plan.”
For additional information about Assured Edge Solutions, visit: http://assurededge.com/.
For additional information about the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture visit: https://cals.cornell.edu/cornell-agritech/partners-centers-institutes/center-excellence-food-agriculture.