Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul cutting the ribbon on Amy's Kitchen's new food manufacturing facility

Spotlight on: Mid-Hudson Region

It’s been a summer of love for the Mid-Hudson region, with natural beauty that’s a year-round highlight for residents and tourists who visit the area’s many parks, historic and cultural sites. The area’s ideal location—with proximity to New York City and major Northeast destinations—also makes it a draw for businesses. During the past three months, the Mid-Hudson region has added new attractions, hosted milestone concerts and broken ground on a leading food manufacturer’s hub—while continuing to serve as a headquarters for several Fortune 500 companies and a home to pioneering research and innovation.

Amy’s Kitchen, a leading organic food manufacturer, broke ground June 21 on a new 389,000-square-foot facility in Orange County that will be the company’s East Coast hub, creating 680 new jobs. The specialty frozen food manufacturing facility in Goshen will be one of the largest manufacturing plants built in New York State in decades. Amy’s Kitchen, a family-owned and privately held company founded in 1987, makes more than 250 organic products and invests in local organic farms to produce them. State support for the facility includes up to $6.8 million in performance-based incentives—tied to job creation and investment commitments—as well as a low-cost power allocation from the New York Power Authority.   

 The day before the Amy’s groundbreaking, a new $3 million Dutchess Welcome Center opened at the eastern approach of the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park. The 1,800-square-foot Poughkeepsie Center opened as the 1.28-mile Walkway, once an unused railroad bridge, marks its 10th anniversary.  Next steps for the Welcome Center, which features tourism information and showcases local products, include a new pavilion.

Cyclists and pedestrians on new Walkway Over the Hudson

And in mid-August, music lovers were welcomed to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, located at the National Register Woodstock Music Festival site, to mark the festival’s 50th anniversary. The center hosted a sold-out screening of the Oscar-winning Woodstock documentary on the field where the festival happened, as well as “A Season of Song & Celebration” with performances by some of the artists who performed at the original festival including John Fogerty and Santana.

This summer included announcements about two Mid-Hudson cities that will reimagine their downtowns through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The DRI awards $10 million to projects selected for their winning visions of transforming city centers. New Rochelle, a Round Three DRI winner, announced the creation of public spaces, an arts center and housing—among other plans—and Peekskill was announced among the cities chosen as Round Four winners. 

 These projects complement the Mid-Hudson region’s multitude of development opportunities, diverse economic base, 825,000 private sector jobs and 3.3 percent unemployment rate.