Several local and state officials joined company representatives in September 2016 for the ribbon cutting at the Castelli Cheese plant in Blockville. It announced it had closed its operation three years later on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019.

ASHVILLE – An international cheese company that first opened a local operation in Chautauqua County three years ago is now closing its doors.

On Monday afternoon Chautauqua County officials announced they had received news that Castelli America closed its Ashville facility on Friday, Dec. 6. The closure affects approximately 50 employees.

The Nuovo Castelli Group, which is based in Italy, is a producer and distributor of a variety of Italian cheeses. It initially purchased the former Empire Specialty Cheese manufacturing plant, located at 5151 Fairbanks Rd. in Ashville in September 2016.

Acting Chautauqua County executive Steve Abdella said that despite the county, the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, the State and Federal governments all providing assistance to the company in the form of low-interest loans, grants, and technical assistance, officials were informed that Castelli America has been experiencing challenges related to production and sales.

According to recent news releases, officials with Castelli will plan to sell their entire operation to Lactalis, the largest multi-national dairy products cooperation in the world. Lactalis is headquartered in France and has several locations in the U.S.

The facility has benefited from more than $8 million in upgrades to its equipment, building structure, and waste treatment facilities. Just last year Castelli was able to secure two federally-funded Community Development Block Grants to expand the facility and create additional jobs.

Deputy County Executive for Economic Development Mark Geise said the IDA is hopeful that the facility will be attractive to potential new operators.

“This is a state-of-the-art facility with a ready source of milk producers, and the CCIDA is hopeful that the facility will be attractive to potential new operators,” Geise said.

“We don’t know what the sale of Castelli America to Lactalis will mean yet for the Ashville facility,” said Abdella. “Chautauqua County and the CCIDA are doing everything in their power to assist the company and its employees. We have contacted the Chautauqua County Workforce Development Board to help connect displaced workers with current job openings and available re-training programs. We are also in discussions with the State to help the displaced workers, and to find a purchaser for the facility if Lactalis decides to not keep it open.”

• READ THE MEETING AGENDA

Among the items on the agenda is a resolution allowing for an agreement that would allow a wind farm equipment provider to lease space on a vacant property on Roberts Rd., in order to store materials related to the Arkwright Wind project.

Last week the county legislature’s public facilities committee and Audit and Control Committee both debated the resolution, with some members voicing concern about the wind project, which has garnered opposition from residents in the immediate area where the large scale windmills would be built.

The $156 million wind farm project will involve 36 wind turbines being built with a maximum generating capacity of 78.4 megawatts- which is enough electricity to power approximately 31,500 households. The wind farm will span approximately 6500 acres of leased private land in the Towns of Arkwright and Pomfret.

Also tonight, the legislature will have a public hearing on the expansion plan for Castelli America, a cheese manufacturing company that opened last year and operates in the town of Harmony near Blockville.

Wednesday’s legislature meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the legislature chambers. It is open to the public and will also be streamed live on the county’s Facebook page.

Several local and state officials joined company representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 20 for the ribbon cutting at the Castelli Cheese plant in Blockville, NY.

ASHVILLE – A new company has taken over the cheese manufacturing plant in Ashville.

As part of an economic development deal with the state and county, Castelli America is now operating the former Empire Specialty Cheese plant on Fairbanks Rd.

Castelli America is the first plant in the United States owned and operated by the Nuova Castelli Group, based in Italy. Officials from the company were in Ashville Tuesday morning to officially announce their taking over the facility, which had run into financial problems while being managed by Empire Specialty Cheese.

Castelli President Paul Bensabat explained that the company has actually been in operation since 1892 and has made a name for itself in Italy as a producer and distributor of various Italian cheeses.

“Castelli is a very old company. It is a 125-year-old company that dates back to 1892. Very few companies have the privilege of being around for 125 years,” Bensabat said. “It is the second largest cheese manufacturer in Italy and is the first manufacturer of what we call protected denomination of origin cheeses – basically the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the Grana Padano – these specialty cheeses that require a lot of care, attention, and very specific rules to be able to produce it.”

Bensabat said the Chautauqua County facility is not only the company’s first plant in the U.S., but he’s hoping it will help to serve as the north American headquarters as the company continues to expand into the U.S. market.

The Castelli announcement was due in large part to Empire State Development, which gave the company a $500,000 grant and a $5.5 million loan to upgrade the local facility. The company will also continue payments on $600,000 in business loans that Empire Specialty Cheese had received from the state, via the county IDA.

The plant currently employs about 80 workers and works with more than 90 different regional dairy farms, mostly from the Amish community.