Greek yogurt giant Chobani has announced a $20 million expansion of the world's largest yogurt plant in south-central Idaho -- to serve as the company's global research and development center.
Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya says he's thrilled to begin building a 70,000-square-foot innovation facility in a region he's dubbed the "Silicon Valley of food."
Chobani opened the $450 million, one-million-square-foot plant in Idaho in 2012. The company, based in New York, employs 2,000 employees, including 300 refugees.
Twin Falls has gained national attention over the years with far-right bloggers and conspiracy theorists focused on the town -- to blast warnings about often unfounded risks of immigration.
Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant, says he has no regrets about moving his company to Idaho.
(by Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press)
