Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Celebrates Wells Enterprises’ Significantly Expanded $425 Million Investment at Its Dunkirk Ice Cream Manufacturing Facility

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, joined by company leadership, employees and community stakeholders, announced that Wells Enterprises is significantly expanding its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Dunkirk. The now $425 million project will increase capacity of its current ice cream production, create new capabilities for future innovation, and add a first-of-its-kind chocolate manufacturing facility within the plant to use for ingredients in its ice cream and novelty products. This investment will enable the company to add 270 new jobs and retain approximately 380 full-time jobs. It will be one of the largest single private investments ever made in Chautauqua County. New York State is supporting the project with up to $12 million in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits and a $6 million grant from Empire State Development in exchange for job creation and capital investment commitments. The County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency is also working with the management team of Wells to provide support that will expedite the project.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

What an amazing day. I am so proud to be here – basically my hometown, I think many of you know where I grew up, up the road in Hamburg. Anybody know where Hamburg is? Okay, if you don't let me help you. It's right next to Orchard Park where some important games are going to be played in a few more months. Okay, Buffalo Bill Stadium, almost done with the new stadium. So there's a lot of energy here.

And what we're talking about here today is part of that story. That story of success – story of people who never stop believing in the power of this region. Because I'm the first Governor from this part of our state since the 1800s. And I am so proud, so proud of my friends here in Western York. And I am fortunate not just to be Governor, but also have an extraordinary team that works with me every single day.

I want to give a special shout out to our Commissioner of Agriculture, Richard Ball, who was here just a short time ago, as I sent him here after tornadoes came to this area, Chautauqua and Erie County. And I said, “Go visit our farmers. Make sure they're okay. The ones up the road, I went to school with. Those are my high school classmates. The Mammosers, there the Zittels, and everybody.” I said, “Make sure they're okay.” And I want to thank him for traveling, every corner of the state to take care of our agriculture because that is everything to us and our identity. Let's give a round of applause to Richard Ball.

And it doesn't happen without Empire State Development, an entity that has funded transformational projects in every corner of our state and it comes down to leadership. And I want to give a special shout out to our CEO and President who is everywhere all the time making sure that we are investing in projects that will help communities prosper, help our businesses and create a pro business climate here in the State of New York, that is Hope Knight. Let's give her a round of applause.

We have our County Executive PJ Wendel who I just talked about on the phone about surveying the damage. We work closely together through the pandemic and a lot of other challenges. Ladies and gentlemen, a great champion for this area, our County Executive PJ Wendel.

I know Senator Borrello couldn't make it here today. He's represented, but also our Assemblymember Andy Goodell, who I just think is an incredibly fun person. I really enjoy his sense of humor. We had a chance to tour some wineries in this area. The largest contiguous grape growing region for Concord grapes in the world. I love saying that. It's a cool thing. It's like saying we're the ice cream capital.

I'm declaring this the ice cream capital, by the way. I don't care about– I'm sorry. But thank you, Andy. And to Liam. I love it. As soon as he opened his mouth, I had to say, where are you from? Because I didn't think it was Dunkirk. And when he told me he's from County Cork, I shared that my family comes from County Kerry in Ireland and they're also dairy farmers. So this is important to me as well at a personal level to be able to celebrate this, but also know it is our dairy farmers who give us what we need to make this incredible ice cream. And I want to thank Liam Killeen for being the CEO but also being here today. This is a very important day for us. I want to thank you.

David Fiore, the plant manager, you've got one of the most fun jobs out there David. I hope you have the respect of everybody here. I suspect you do because leadership does make a difference in these jobs as well. And I'm going to say the success of this place is one of the reasons why this massive investment, the largest investment in this county, is going on right now under the leadership of these Wells individuals. I want to thank them as well.

But who's doing the real work out there? I want to thank our Teamsters who are here. I want to give you all a huge round of applause. Local 264 under Brian Dickman. Brian, stand up. Let's give Brian a round of applause. Thank you. Thank you.

You know, I really love ice cream. I know it's ice cream month. Every day is ice cream day for me. I don't wait once a year to celebrate it. And I really do have an appreciation of how you make things sweeter. You make life sweeter. And sometimes these jobs require some level of expertise and so, I've become an expert. I spent decades in sundae school preparing for this very day.

But being here is a real treat for me and I just cannot believe the fact that this is happening on this very day. And the people around this state love the ice cream that comes out of this factory. They just love it. This name is associated with things that just put a smile on people's faces. And I hope that makes you feel really proud because I'm proud of all of you, from Blue Bunny to Halo Top, to Bomb Pops. It's making memories for families as well. Picnics at the beach, birthday parties, first dates — my parents’ first date was at an ice cream stand not far from here. They used to come down this way all the time. It's the largest private ice cream manufacturer in the United States.

Do you know what that means? This is Dunkirk, this is Chautauqua County, this is New York State. But what a huge point of pride we have. And I'm so excited that they're going to start growing and growing. And to be able to continue what's going on here today — this amount of money is extraordinary.

Let's see what we've got here, some numbers. Let's see what this expansion does. 270 new jobs in this region. Let's give that a round of applause. We're keeping 380 jobs. How about that? And it's a $425 million project. And now, this is a big deal for this area. This is a big deal for the entire State of New York. That is a lot of investment coming in.

And this has the potential to continue the transformation of Chautauqua County. I was just down here a short time ago to talk about Brooks Hospital. Investments like that show that this area matters, or as I'd like to say, it punches above its weight. Not the largest population, not the largest county we have, but what is going on is enormous. And I want to just talk about what that means to us. It's building good paying jobs and careers. And as I'm recruiting businesses to the State of New York, and you've heard of Micron coming with 50,000 jobs up in Syracuse. You know how I helped win them over? A lot of incentives, a lot of help. But I said, I know Upstate New York. These are the hardest workers you're going to find anywhere in the country. And that is true. That is true. Because we know what a hard day of work is, but at the end of it, there's pride, there's a sense of accomplishment, there's a sense of I can take care of my family with this, and making sure that we have the good wages to support that.

This is something that's personal to me. My grandpa and father and uncles all worked up the road at the steel plant. People work hard, but then they'll stay with the company. It’s not like other parts of the country where every 12 months people are looking around for another job. This is where you build your career, your friendships, your relationships, your community. And that's what sets Upstate New York apart. It is really, truly special. Families can send their kids to college if they want, or welcome them into an apprenticeship program, or work right here just like their parents did. And be able to afford, not just retirement, but be able to afford to go to a Buffalo Bills game – this is life in Western New York.

We said, we're here to help. $18 million from the State of New York to help get this over the finish line. I'm really proud that we could do that for you.

And I just want to say, we're joined by a number of journalists who are here today. Hello, journalists. They're all here to get quite the scoop here, right? This is the big scoop of the day. These are pretty bad, aren't they? You've heard of dad jokes. I'm the first mom Governor of New York. Mom jokes are even worse, but you just can't beat what we're doing here today. And I'm really proud.

I just can't say it enough that this is a big day for us. And it means that an area that I cherish, an area that I love, that I truly believe in has really stepped up. Met the challenge. Show we can do the work. Show where the place where you should be. Show that the communities of Fredonia and Dunkirk, and I want to acknowledge Mayor Ferguson is here as well, because I come out of local government right down the road in Hamburg. And we continue building our reputation as a place that businesses not only want to just come to, but also expand in. Because success breeds success.

Others will be looking at what we're doing here today to say they must know something. They're a globally known company. What's this secret place called Dunkirk, Chautauqua County? And others will start paying attention. This is exactly how it happens. And that's why this day matters. It is truly one of the sweetest days of my life. And I'm really proud to be with all of you, the hardworking men and women of Wells Ice Cream, the leadership team, and all of my team as well. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate you.