PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The future of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry is taking root in Philly. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that with the aid of $10 million in grants and loans from the commonwealth, the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association (MDVA) has purchased the HP Hood milk manufacturing plant in Northeast Philadelphia.
Milk processing from the dairy plant — which produces coffee creamer, half and half, and other extended-shelf-life dairy products — is expected to double. MDVA is investing additional funds to increase capacity from 10 million to 25 million gallons annually over a two-year period.
Shapiro said dairy farmers across the state have not had enough capacity to process all the milk they produce. This new investment will help them increase their output as well as help local workers.
“The strength of agriculture is not just in areas you would expect on our farmlands, but it’s in our urban centers as well, and it’s central to our growth,” said Shapiro. “Not only does this plant help hundreds of dairy farmers across the commonwealth, but it really supports economic growth here in Philly and across the commonwealth.”
The partnership will help retain all 178 existing jobs at HP Hood.
“The commonwealth made an aggressive play here, putting together an incentive package totaling $10 million in grants and loans to be able to not just keep this plant open and keep the jobs here, but to expand the capacity nearly double,” Shapiro added.
MDVA is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative made up of more than 900 family-owned dairy farms. While about 80% of those farms are located in Pennsylvania, HP Hood is MDVA’s first dairy processing facility in the state.
MDVA collects farms’ milk and markets the products to outside processors or its own processing plants.