Phoenix Tailings Rochester Plant Gets $54.2M Incentive Package

Update: The Phoenix Tailings Rochester rare earth plant at Eastman Business Park will receive an estimated $54.2 million in state, local and infrastructure incentives, the company announced early Thursday, November 5. The package is the first detailed public accounting of government support for the project since Phoenix Tailings picked the site on October 20, and Monroe County now puts the total install cost at approximately $600 million. This is a developing story.

We first reported the site selection in Phoenix Tailings Picks Rochester for $375M Rare Earth Separation Plant. This update covers what is new.

What Happened

In a release issued at 5:45 a.m. Eastern, Phoenix Tailings said its Freedom Project will benefit from an estimated $54.2 million in incentives to advance the rare earth separation facility at Eastman Business Park (GlobeNewswire). The company said the support, combined with existing industrial buildings and chemical processing infrastructure left from Kodak's manufacturing years, lets it put its capital into equipment, production and supply rather than new structures (GlobeNewswire).

Co-founder and CEO Nick Myers credited the Town of Greece, Greater Rochester Enterprise and New York State, saying their support helps the company upgrade the existing buildings and infrastructure to bring production online faster (GlobeNewswire). Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said the commitment means new high-tech jobs and technologies will come to the park and support growth in the Finger Lakes region (GlobeNewswire).

What Is Confirmed

The release breaks the package into three parts (GlobeNewswire):

• Excelsior Jobs Program: up to $3 million in performance-based tax credits through Empire State Development. This is the same award the state disclosed in October (Rochester Business Journal).
• Investment tax credits: approximately $15.9 million in separate New York State investment tax credits. The release does not name the program.
• Equipment, materials and power: approximately $35.3 million in tax savings on eligible equipment and construction materials, together with anticipated funding for power infrastructure improvements serving the project.

Those three components add up to the $54.2 million total. The release also says additional county programs are expected to support equipment purchases and workforce training, without a dollar figure, and that all of the support is subject to eligibility and performance requirements, approvals and final award terms (GlobeNewswire). In other words, the package is announced but not final.

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello, quoted in the release, cited "an approximately $600 million total install cost" and the promise of hundreds of new jobs (GlobeNewswire). When the project was announced in October, the state and local press described it as a $375 million investment (Rochester Business Journal) (WXXI News). The release does not explain the difference between the two figures, and the company did not state its own cost estimate in Thursday's text.

The operating figures are unchanged. The plant is designed to process more than 18,000 tons of rare earth feedstock a year and produce more than 4,400 tons of separated rare earth oxides at full capacity, which will feed the company's downstream metallization operation (GlobeNewswire). It is expected to support more than 200 direct New York jobs at full operation, including 90 at launch, with production ramping in 2027 and full production planned for 2028 (GlobeNewswire). The project also still carries the previously announced $500 million conditional loan from the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital (GlobeNewswire).

Who Is Involved

The release names Monroe County and RED-Rochester, the utility and energy provider at Eastman Business Park, as partners helping with site development, permitting and access to the region's manufacturing workforce (GlobeNewswire). Greater Rochester Enterprise President Matt Hurlbutt said his organization worked on site selection, incentives, permitting and talent (GlobeNewswire). Greece Town Supervisor Jeff McCann said the 90 new jobs will help cement the park's role as a regional hub for advanced manufacturing, and Representative Joe Morelle and Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce President Bob Duffy also backed the project (GlobeNewswire).

Local reporting in October placed the facility in an industrial warehouse complex off 1600 Lexington Ave. in Greece, said construction was expected to begin early next year, and said the company planned to hire for all roles in 2027 (WXXI News). That report also said feedstock would arrive by rail in bulk bags and that some provisions still needed state and town sign-off (WXXI News).

The park has drawn other large process manufacturing investments. Reju chose Eastman Business Park for a $390 million textile regeneration hub, as covered in Reju Picks Rochester for Its First U.S. Textile Recycling Hub.

What It Means for Owners and Contractors

The structure of the package tells contractors where the money is going. More than half of the estimated total, about $35.3 million, is tied to tax savings on equipment and construction materials plus power infrastructure. That is consistent with the company's plan to reuse existing Kodak era buildings and spend mainly on process equipment, rather than on a ground-up shell (GlobeNewswire). For the Rochester market, that points toward interior fit-out, process piping, tank and equipment setting, electrical distribution and utility upgrades, and the specialty trades that support chemical processing.

The planned power infrastructure funding is worth watching for electrical and utility contractors, since RED-Rochester supplies energy at the park and is named as a partner (GlobeNewswire). The construction materials sales tax savings also suggest procurement will run through qualifying channels, which matters for subcontractors pricing material-heavy scopes.

The timeline remains tight. With production ramping in 2027, design, permitting and long-lead equipment orders would need to move soon. A similar federal-plus-state financing pattern is behind other New York industrial projects, including the Marcy chip plant covered in Wolfspeed Lands Conditional $1.5B Federal Loan.

What Is Not Yet Known

• The design firm, engineer of record and construction manager or general contractor. None are named in the release.
• Which program provides the $15.9 million in state investment tax credits, and which agency will administer the power infrastructure funding.
• How the approximately $600 million install cost cited by Monroe County relates to the $375 million figure announced in October.
• Final approval dates for the incentives and the closing of the $500 million federal loan.

What to Watch

Look for local industrial development agency agendas covering the sales tax and equipment benefits, Empire State Development board actions, Town of Greece approvals, and any announcement of the project's delivery team. We will update this story as those details are confirmed.

Key Questions

How much in incentives is Phoenix Tailings getting for its Rochester plant?

Phoenix Tailings says its rare earth separation plant at Eastman Business Park in Rochester will benefit from an estimated $54.2 million in state, local and infrastructure incentives, announced November 5, 2026, subject to final award terms (GlobeNewswire).

What is included in the $54.2 million package?

It includes up to $3 million in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits, about $15.9 million in New York State investment tax credits, and about $35.3 million in tax savings on equipment and construction materials plus anticipated power infrastructure funding (GlobeNewswire).

When will the Phoenix Tailings Rochester facility open?

Production at the Eastman Business Park plant is scheduled to ramp in 2027, with full production planned for 2028 and more than 200 direct jobs at full operation, including 90 at launch (GlobeNewswire).

Who is building the Phoenix Tailings plant?

That is not yet known. Phoenix Tailings has not named a design firm, construction manager or general contractor for the Rochester facility (GlobeNewswire).

Related Coverage

• Phoenix Tailings Picks Rochester for $375M Rare Earth Separation Plant
• Reju Picks Rochester for Its First U.S. Textile Recycling Hub: A $390 Million Bet on Circular Manufacturing
• Wolfspeed Lands Conditional $1.5B Federal Loan, Plans More Volume at Marcy Fab
• Update: Edwards Vacuum Opens $319M Genesee County Chip Pump Plant

Image credit: Empire State Development, via Rochester Business Journal. Image from the source article.

Sources

• GlobeNewswire (Phoenix Tailings press release), “New York State Supports Phoenix Tailings’ Freedom Project for Rare Earth Separation”: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/05/3396142/0/en/new-york-state-supports-phoenix-tailings-freedom-project-for-rare-earth-separation.html
• WXXI News, “Rare-earth processing facility to be built at Kodak Park”: https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2026-10-20/rare-earth-processing-facility-to-be-built-at-eastman-business-park
• Rochester Business Journal, “Phoenix Tailings picks Rochester for $375M rare earth facility”: https://rbj.net/2026/10/21/phoenix-tailings-rochester-375m-rare-earth-facility/