The robust potential of New York’s agriculture sector drew Chris LaCorata back to Chautauqua County, New York, after a 37-year career in food manufacturing, with Coca-Cola Co. and Nestlé, that took him across the country. His goal was to use that wealth of experience to start his own food-related company, one that would not only leverage upstate New York’s agricultural resources but would also help ensure a more stable, prosperous future for its grain growers and rural communities.
“My wife and I lived here in the early ’80s, when a lot of economic decline was happening, and that has stuck with us,” LaCorata says. “We really wanted to target areas that had some significant booms and busts in the past, and build upon the untapped potential of those areas.”
The Center of Excellence has been a key ally from the beginning, he says. LaCorata reached out to the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and to Cornell, which brought together economic and ag experts, growers and processors to understand how best to support grain growers.
In May 2019, for example, the COE organized a Hops and Grains Summit that brought together Cornell researchers and extension specialists with trade groups and business development experts to identify the types of hops and grains that can be successfully grown on a commercial scale in western New York and the Finger Lakes.
“Cornell is going to continue to be vital to the success of this project and building the community.” -Chris LaCorata, owner, Empire State Brands
The result is LaCorata’s company, Empire State Brands, which LaCorata hopes will reduce the processing burden on small New York grain growers while increasing their profits. Currently, if a farmer decides to grow hops, for example, they have to figure out how to harvest, dry and bale the grain on her own. Then they’ll have to transport the hops off-site to be pelletized, then take them back to the farm before selling. LaCorata has developed plans for an integrated grower, miller and processor plant that would allow a hops farmer to borrow the plant’s $125,000 mobile harvester, then take the hops to the plant, which would handle the processing from there.
“All that deferred cost takes a farmer from just barely above water up to a very profitable rate,” LaCorata says. “And we can vouch for the quality of our product because that’s our No. 1 emphasis: making sure we introduce a quality product into New York, from New York.”
Cornell will be crucial to fostering long-term relationships with farmers, he adds. “Cornell is going to continue to be vital to the success of this project and building the community,” LaCorata says. “It’s been a unique and wonderful experience; I’ve never seen this amount of effort and help from just an idea.”
New York’s commitment to agriculture
Centers of Excellence are a program of Empire State Development (ESD), funded through its Division of Science and Technology. Most of ESD’s work involves fostering public-private partnerships early in a company’s development, according to Vinnie Esposito, vice president of ESD.
“We’re engaging with companies much earlier, where it’s not about the state incentive, it’s about having access to mentors, access to testing – the very things that Cornell has at its disposal,” he says. “The Center of Excellence was an add-on to the good work Cornell was already doing; we in Empire State Development wanted to give them more resources to connect more directly with businesses.”