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Egg hatchery

Planned Watertown egg hatchery awarded low-cost power from NYPA

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A $16 million egg hatchery proposed the for Thousand Islands International Agriculture and Business Park has been awarded low-cost power from the state to help support the project.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that the New York Power Authority’s Board of Trustees has approved the allocation of 320 kilowatts of low-cost power from the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project in Massena for the planned operation on Route 3 in the town of Watertown.

CWT Farms International, Gainesville, Georgia, held a ground-breaking ceremony on a nearly 50,000-square-foot hatchery in June 2022, officially initiating the company’s largest investment in its 60-year history.

The company initially proposed a smaller hatchery producing 400,000 eggs per week in the town of Watertown agricultural park with plans for expansion, but then decided to build a facility that would already include the expansion and could produce 800,000 eggs weekly. The expansion project will help CWT serve its Canadian and northeastern U.S. customers and create 26 jobs in the north country.

“The approved power allocation to CWT will bolster New York’s agriculture sector, create 26 jobs and stimulate $16 million in private investments in Watertown,” NYPA Acting President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll said in a statement. “By leveraging hydropower, the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project remains a major driver of economic development for communities across the North Country.”

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Georgia company breaks ground on $16 million egg hatchery on Route 3

in Local News 348 views

WATERTOWN — A Georgia company is making the biggest investment in its 60-year history with a $16 million egg hatchery in the agribusiness park on Route 3.

The company, CWT Farms International, broke ground Wednesday morning on a 50,000-square-foot hatchery in the Thousand Islands International Agriculture and Business Park that will produce 800,000 chicks a week.

The developer, economic developers and Jefferson County and town of Watertown officials came together to celebrate the start of the project and the agriculture industry in the north country.

“This marks an important milestone,” said Stephen M. Hunt, regional director for Empire State Development.

Jeffrey Lee Pierce, CWT’s vice president of marketing and strategic alliances, credited the company’s partnership with those entities to bring the project to Jefferson County.

With difficulty getting construction materials and having to make changes in the project, Mr. Pierce said they worked together to overcome those issues and make the hatchery happen.

“It’s the biggest investment in our company’s history, biggest single investment,” Mr. Pierce said.

He said CWT Farms decided it made better financial sense to immediately go forward with an expansion of 28,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet, and 400,000 eggs to 800,000.

The plant is slated to be in operation in early spring. The company will employ 20 full-time workers.

“They’re good jobs,” Mr. Pierce said, adding that workers will receive “good, fair health benefits and retirement.”

Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay M. Matteson said the hatchery will strengthen the north country’s agricultural industry.

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Watertown egg hatchery project could break ground in June

in Local Business/Local News 274 views

WATERTOWN — Final details are being worked out to build a 50,000-square-foot egg hatchery in the agribusiness park on Route 3.

Developer Michael E. Lundy said Tuesday that he’s meeting next week with the Georgia company, CWT Farms International, to finalize the construction budget and design plans for the hatchery before a tentative groundbreaking scheduled for June 15.

“A lot still has to happen, but it’s very encouraging,” he said.

Plans call for the $15 to $16 million hatchery to be built in the Thousand Islands International Agriculture and Business Park.

Last month, CWT received $1.5 million from Empire State Development , which included a $1 million grant and $500,000 Excelsior Job Program grant.

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Watertown egg hatchery project receives $1.5 million in state funding

in Local News 291 views

WATERTOWN — A Georgia company has received a $1.5 million boost from the state to help finance an egg hatchery in the agribusiness park on Route 3.

Jefferson County Agriculture Coordinator Jay M. Matteson got word on Monday that Empire State Development is kicking in a $1 million grant and a $500,000 Excelsior Job Program grant to help finance the project.

The Georgia company building the 50,000-square-foot egg hatchery, CWT Farms International, is expected to make an official announcement next Monday that it’s proceeding with the $15 million to $16 million project now that financing is in place, Mr. Matteson said.

Jeffrey Pierce, CWT’s vice president of marketing and strategic alliances, was out of the country on Monday and will make it official next week.

“He’s very happy, very appreciative about the funding,” Mr. Matteson said.

The company will proceed quickly with ground breaking and construction so it can take advantage of markets associated with the nation’s poultry shortage caused by the pandemic, he said.

“The timing is very ripe for the plant,” Mr. Matteson said.

He and Watertown developer Michael E. Lundy have been working with CWT on the project in the Thousand Islands International Agriculture and Business Park since last summer. Mr. Lundy owns the ag-business park.

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Egg hatchery eyed for Watertown agri-biz park

in Local News 477 views

WATERTOWN — A Georgia-based poultry breeding company is looking at building and operating an egg hatchery facility in the agri-biz park on Route 3 in the town of Watertown.

CWT Farms International, a 62-year-old company with facilities in Ohio, and several southern states, is talking to Jefferson County economic development officials about building a 28,000-square-foot egg hatchery in the Thousand Islands International Agriculture and Business Park, located near the BOCES complex.

The $10 million to $12 million facility would create 20 jobs and be built on vacant land between the Cazenovia Equipment Company and the Eagle Beverage distribution center, the two first tenants of the ag-biz park, owned by developer Michael E. Lundy.

Chicks would be hatched at the facility and then primarily head off to Canada for the broiler chicken market before ending up as rotisserie chickens, the kinds that are sold at grocery stores, said Jay M. Matteson, agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Economic Development Agency.

If the project moves forward, the facility would join Aviagen North America, which operates an egg hatchery about a mile away in the Jefferson County Corporate Park off outer Coffeen Street.

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