Byrne Dairy Celebrates Groundbreaking of Multi-Million Dollar Expansion in Cortlandville

It was a day to mark a major milestone for Byrne Dairy, for the Town of Cortlandville, and Cortland County. Late yesterday morning, representatives from Byrne Dairy and Cortlandville Town Supervisor Greg Leach marked the ceremonial groundbreaking for Byrne Dairy’s largest expansion project in their 93 year history.

The groundbreaking marks the start of Byrne Dairy’s Phase 2A expansion of their Cortlandville facility; a second phase, phase 2B, is expected to break ground next summer. The facility originally opened in 2014 at the Finger Lakes East business park in the Town of Cortlandville after the company purchased all 127 acres of the business park. The new expansion of the facility will bring the facility to 25 acres in size, leaving room for additional expansions down the road. The expansion project will also be the largest investment in Byrne’s 93 year history at an estimated cost exceeding $120 million dollars when both phase 2A and 2B are completed. Carl Byrne, CEO of Byrne, told X101 News what this expansion will bring.

“There’s a lot of space the workforce is fantastic here. We have 111 fulltime employees with this expansion we’ll double that number to roughly 240 employees,” Byrne told X101 News.

Byrne added the Cortland community has been so supportive of them, it is easier for Byrne to invest in Cortlandville. The Cortlandville facility also has the lowest turnover rate for employees and the highest tenure out of all of Byrne Dairy’s facilities. Some employees recognized during the groundbreaking have been working with Byrne for decades. Operations at the facility are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

“Businesses choose Cortlandville. They don’t find a site, they find a home.” Town Supervisor Greg Leach said. “Here’s to growth, partnership and a bright future ahead.”

Phase 2A consists of a 26,000 square foot expansion to the western side of the facility and is expected to take about 8 to 9 months to complete. It will also include the installation of a new entry way off of Byrne Hollow Crossing. Phase 2B will then begin shortly after completion of 2A and will be a 75,000 square foot expansion. Byrne Dairy has been granted approvals for both phases. The expansion will also include an expanded receiving bay totaling 4,238 square feet, 9 new loading dock doors, a new truck parking/staging/loading/unloading area totaling 127,500 square feet and a new 175,000 gallon water tank.