GOSHEN—Beer manufacturer Kikkerfrosch recently got final approvals from the Goshen Planning Board and is now clearing land off Route 17 to build its 100,000 square foot facility. The Orange County Partnership (OCP) laid the foundation for the economic victory by partnering with the Village of Goshen, JEDI-style.
“It’s been in our pipeline for about a year or so,” said OCP’s president Maureen Halahan. The company’s arrival is the result of a long-term joint effort that Halahan called the Goshen JEDI, or Joint Economic Development Initiative.
The county has seen several microbreweries coming in that produce 60,000 barrels of beer or less. Kikkerbrosch is much larger and plans on producing 300,000 barrels of German-style lager a year. Halahan said the company will offer 80 jobs and bring more than $300,000 in capital investment to the venture.
“This is an exciting first step in what will be a strong relationship between the village and Kikkerfrosch,” said Goshen Mayor Kyle Roddey. “This welcomed addition to our community will increase our tax base and create new job opportunities.”
Through concerted JEDI efforts, Halahan said Goshen asked how they could bring in more revenue through balanced growth. “There are opportunities to create the right corridors for the right kind of growth,” Halahan said. Another shovel-ready site in Goshen will soon welcome the natural foods company Amy’s Kitchen.
Halahan said it takes patience and education to achieve this kind of success. One opportunity the county lost out on happened before the JEDI began its work. Macy’s wanted to build a million square foot distribution center on the parcel now ticketed for Amy’s Kitchen. “It was perfect. It was shovel-ready. We were in the game. We had all the people at the table,” Hallahan said.
Goshen was not enamored with the project. Macy’s site selector took note, and Macy’s located its facility in West Virginia. “Who loses a New York company to West Virginia? Of all my 13 years, it was a tough one.”
OCP learned from the misstep. They met with the chairman of the planning board, the mayor, the town supervisor. From those discussions a monthly meeting developed that was called the Goshen JEDI. OCP worked with Goshen’s concerns by identifying corridors for business growth.
Economic development is what OCP is all about. Former three-term County Executive Lou Heimbach wanted a private sector organization that would take on the marketing and sales of all the development in the county. He approached local chambers, business leaders, banks, and utility companies. Halahan said Heimbach wanted “a place to conduct economic development.”
