For Food Manufacturers, MTRC/LIFC Spells “Growth”

Some fairly thick alphabet soup will create a tasty economic-development stew for regional food manufacturers.

The Manufacturing & Technology Resource Consortium is partnering with the Port Washington-based Long Island Food Council on a multifaceted effort to bring expert consulting services to food manufacturers in Nassau and Suffolk.

The MTRC/LIFC partnership will be a resource for clients of the MTRC, which is located on the Stony Brook University campus and serves as Long Island’s Regional Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center.

The idea, according to a statement from SBU, is to provide additional resources for food-focused MTRC clients, with the LIFC alliance offering “unparalleled resources in all areas of food manufacturing,” including FDA compliance and other MEP standards.

It all spells good things for regional food and beverage manufacturers, according to SBU Vice President of Economic Development Yacov Shamash, who noted that particular sector can now benefit from the MTRC’s expanding scope.

“In the past, we have had the resources to assist engineering and technical companies, but now we have the resources to help the food and beverage industry,” Shamash said this week. “We’re looking forward to making an important contribution in this sector.”

Informational workshops for food manufacturers have been scheduled in both Nassau and Suffolk counties: June 6 at Riverhead’s Hotel Indigo and June 14 at the Jericho offices of Nixon Peabody, as part of the LIFC regional meeting.

The MTRC, one of 10 statewide Empire State Development Corp.-designated MEP centers, is designed to help small to medium-sized manufacturing companies develop growth plans and increase competitiveness through training, workforce-development and product-renewal efforts.

The consortium makes liberal use of SBU’s many programmatic resources, including the university’s Centers of Excellence and Centers for Advanced Technology. The MTRC also maintains close ties with external partners such as the Plainview-based Composite Prototyping Center, regional Small Business Development Centers and “potential training partners” from Farmingdale State College, Nassau Community College, the New York Institute of Technology and Suffolk County Community College.

While the MTRC’s primary focus is on promoting the Long Island region as a biotechnology hub, it now has the wherewithal to offer “varied” advisory services to food and beverage manufacturers, according to SBU, which notes a “broad consulting base” available to weigh in on recipe development, batch-manufacturing scalability, food safety, packaging, marketing and compliance with strict FDA requirements, among other business-critical topics.

“We are looking forward to assisting the food and beverage industry on Long Island reach the next level,” Shamash said.