Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Lifeway Foods, Inc., a leading supplier of kefir cultured dairy products, has announced the $7.4 million acquisition of the Golden Guernsey dairy plant in Waukesha, WI, to provide additional manufacturing capacity for its growing kefir-based business. Adding the 170,000-square-foot plant to Lifeway’s existing 50,000-square-foot facility in Morton Grove, IL, will more than quadruple the company’s production capacity and provide much-needed expansion abilities.

The Golden Guernsey plant was shuttered this past January following a bankruptcy filing, leaving 112 employees without jobs. Lifeway plans to reopen the plant this summer and rehire a portion of the workforce to staff the facility. The transaction is expected to close on June 10.

Lifeway’s growth has been fueled in part by the burgeoning natural foods movement as well as mounting awareness of the health benefits of probiotic products like kefir. Sales of probiotic foods and supplements jumped 79 percent over the past two years, settling at US$2.25 billion in July 2012, according to data from natural foods market research company SPINS. Organic food sales in the U.S. alone jumped from$11 billion in 2004 to $27 billion in 2012, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, with growth in conventional grocery stores as well as natural foods markets.

Diversification of Lifeway’s product portfolio has also contributed, with innovations ranging from ProBugs™ organic kefir drinks for children to the market’s first packaged frozen kefir. The company’s newest products include freeze-dried Lifeway ProBugs™ Bites for infants, other new ProBugs varieties for older children, frozen kefir bars, and a Greek kefir line featuring extra protein.

The post Lifeway Foods Acquires Golden Guernsey Dairy Plant For $7.4 Million appeared first on Business Facilities.

Hostess is back!

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Hostess Brands LLC, a new company and employer under new ownership, announced plans to reopen and expand its bakery in Emporia. The company will initially add 250 jobs in Emporia and plans to create a total of more than 300 jobs in the community within the next several years. The baking facility will resume operations this summer and will produce a full assortment of Hostess’ snack products.

“I am delighted with the progress we have made upgrading the Emporia facility since we acquired Hostess,” said Dean Metropoulos, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hostess. “We have expanded the bakery’s capacity significantly, which will result in meaningful job growth in the Emporia community and ultimately help us achieve our goal of bringing Hostess products back to the shelves for our customers as quickly as possible. The state of Kansas and city of Emporia have been extremely helpful throughout the redevelopment process, and we want to thank them for their assistance with this project in particular and for their long-standing support of Hostess.”

“I am thrilled that the re-launch of the Emporia factory will result in the creation of hundreds of jobs,” said Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George. “Kansas has created an attractive business environment that helps companies invest in the state and hire a significant number of Kansas workers.”

“The city is delighted that the new owners of Hostess Brands are resuming production at the Emporia plant,” said Mayor Bobbi Mlynar, who helped lead the cooperative effort to keep the local plant open. “Making the best snack cakes in the world is something that Emporia-area workers know how to do well and are eager to resume doing. The plant has been a major employer here for almost 50 years, providing significant support to our economy, as well as being a good corporate citizen in our community. We look forward to the same type of relationship with the new owners.”

“The Emporia community is excited to officially welcome back Hostess Brands,” said Chair Jon Geitz of the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas and vice-mayor of the city of Emporia. “The RDA in collaboration with community leaders worked diligently over the past 15 months to ensure a positive outcome after the bankruptcy was announced. Once again, Emporia has earned its reputation as a community that speaks with one voice.”

The post Hostess To Reopen In Emporia, KS; Will Create More Than 300 Jobs appeared first on Business Facilities.

By the time the damaged wellhead was capped–nearly three months after the explosion–more than 5 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf. That’s almost 20 times more than what seeped out of the Exxon Valdez off the coast of Alaska in 1989.

The five states that were impacted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster (including 665 miles of contaminated coastline), Gulf Coast business owners, the federal government and BP have spent the past three years dancing a slow legal tango that has assessed clean-up costs, fines and other liabilities.

The British oil giant estimates its overall liability for the catastrophe could eventually top $42 billion; BP has sold off significant assets to generate cash for the payouts.

In December, a federal judge approved the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement agreement, which covers individuals and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and certain coastal counties in eastern Texas and western Florida, as well as specified adjacent Gulf waters and bays. BP says it has set aside about $8 billion to cover these economic and property damage loss claims (the agreement does not set a cap on the liability), of which about $1.87 billion has already been paid out (the overall settlement includes a guaranteed $2.3-billion fund to compensate seafood industry businesses damaged by the spill).

Meanwhile, a trial underway in New Orleans will determine civil claims under the Clean Water Act which could amount to more than $17 billion; billions more could be assessed after damage claims from Gulf Coast states are adjudicated; and a third set of claims covering natural resource damage has yet to be filed.

While the overall scope of the settlements is still taking shape, a bureaucratic framework has been put in place to distribute these funds.

In 2011, the  RESTORE Act established a Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which is comprised of governors from the five affected States, the Secretaries from the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security as well as the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Gulf States recommended and President Obama appointed the Secretary of Commerce as the Council’s Chair.

The RESTORE Act dedicates 80 percent of all administrative and civil penalties related to the Deepwater Horizon spill to a Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. It specifies that these funds can be utilized “to restore and protect the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands and economy of the Gulf Coast region.”

The RESTORE Act sets forth the following framework for allocation of the Trust Fund:

• 35 percent equally divided among the five States for ecological restoration, economic development and tourism promotion;
• 30 percent plus interest managed by the Council for ecosystem restoration under the Comprehensive Plan;
• 30 percent divided among the States according to a formula to implement State expenditure plans (the formula factors in oiled shoreline, population and distance from the Deepwater Horizon rig);
• 2.5 percent plus interest for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Science, Observation, Monitoring and Technology Program within the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and
• 2.5 percent plus interest allocated to the States for Centers of Excellence Research grants, which will each focus on science, technology and monitoring related to Gulf restoration. 

State and local economic development officials throughout the Gulf Coast region are gearing up to receive their share of the Deepwater Horizon disaster trust fund.

According to state officials, Mississippi was the first state to come up with a dedicated plan to use these funds. Gov. Phil Bryant came forward with a GoCoast 2020 plan that lays out how Mississippi will spend its share of funds from the Restoration Council.

Here are some of the projects in Mississippi that eventually may be built using BP disaster funds, as reported by the Mississippi Press (GulfLive.com):

Jackson County, MS is considering using the BP funds to expand Trent Lott International Airport; expand rail services; eliminate 23 railroad crossings in Pascagoula and Moss Point; dredge bayous throughout the county; and replace a county bridge that connects east and west Jackson County, a $20-million project.

Pascagoula, MS is considering a $24.2-million riverfront project which would include Point Park, a beach promenade, Yazoo Lake channel dredging, Inner Harbor repairs and adding public access and a restaurant at Spinnaker Point. Another $424-million project would acquire riverfront property, relocate the wastewater treatment plant, complete Lighthouse Park and connect the bayou north of Lake Yazoo to the lake for improved drainage. A proposed $7.6-million project would convert Lowry Island into a recreational harbor.

Other Mississippi towns are queuing up to deploy the BP restoration funds to expand highways, repair bridges, build water treatment plants and restore wetlands.

Here’s hoping the improvements funded by the Deepwater Horizon settlements outlast the damage to the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Coast wrought by BP’s big oil spill.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

The post Deepwater Horizon: Three Years Later appeared first on Business Facilities.

The family-owned company is a large wholesale distributor of beef, pork and chicken products, earning $40-45 million in annual sales. The company, which expects to rely heavily on Nebraska suppliers, will immediately hire two employees. Phase two plans call for construction of a processing plant with the potential for hiring 15 to 20 people.

“We truly hope to become a great bridge between Nebraska agriculture and the Asian market. We also hope to establish a long stable and constructive partnership with local businesses. And we will try our best to give back to the community and create more job opportunities for Nebraska,” said Quian Chen, owner.

The post New Grand Ocean International Opens North American Office In Omaha, NE appeared first on Business Facilities.

The run-up to Washington’s latest manufactured budget crisis closely follows the script for a generic Road Runner cartoon. Wile E. Coyote arranges for an Acme safe to be hurled off a cliff over Road Runner’s favorite route through the cartoon desert. Mr. Coyote’s timing is off, the Road Runner zips through unscathed and Wile E. goes down to investigate. He looks up and gets clobbered by the tardy safe.

In the sequester cartoon unfolding in our nation’s capital, the budget safe falls off the Washington Monument and everything gets squashed, including the U.S. economy.

As this is being written, President Obama is racing around the country making dire predictions about which essential federal services will be decimated if the March 1 sequester deadline is breached and $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts go into effect. The cuts are supposed to be a down-payment on $1.2 trillion in spending reductions spread over the next 10 years.

Here’s a sampling: Half of the USDA’s meat inspectors will be furloughed, forcing all of us to eat canned tuna fish; five divisions of the Armed Forces will be taken off the front lines, imperiling our national security; most of the folks who inspect our shoes, belt buckles and nail clippers at airports will be sent home, adding three hours to the average boarding time for air travel. And so on and so forth.

The president is so busy spinning these visions of gloom and doom he usually neglects to point out that he signed the law creating the sequester in the first place. This happened during an earlier pre-fabricated budget showdown in 2011, which featured a threatened default on the national debt and resulted in the first-ever downgrade of the United States’ AAA credit rating.

To sort out fact from fiction, we think it’s useful to check some non-partisan sources. Unfortunately, their prognostications are just as dire as the stuff coming from the political combatants in Washington.

According to a study issued last fall by the Aerospace Industry Association, the sequester will cost the U.S. more than two million jobs by the end of next year, reduce the nation’s GDP by $215 billion this year, decrease personal earnings of the workforce by $109 billion and send the unemployment rate spiraling back up over 9 percent.

Because nearly half of the automatic sequester cuts are earmarked to hit the Pentagon’s budget, the job-loss pain will be felt most severely in states that are home to the aerospace/defense industry and other critical military supply-chain facilities. At the top of the list are California (an estimated 225,464 jobs lost), Virginia (207,571), Texas (159,473)), Maryland (114,795) and Florida (79,459).

Most Vulnerable States (job losses/sequester budget cuts). (Credit: Aerospace Industry Association)

A consensus of independent analysts warns that the U.S. is poised to plunge back into the depths of the Great Recession if the folks in Washington don’t get their act together.

Partisans on both sides of this drama think they have a failsafe mechanism which will enable us to step aside at the last second and avoid getting crushed by the sequester safe. It’s called a continuing resolution. The script goes something like this:

Step One: The sequester goes into effect and the country writhes in agony as thousands are sent to the unemployment lines (and contaminated meat flows into supermarkets).

Step Two: President Obama and Republicans in Congress stage a month-long orgy of recriminations, each trying to pin the blame for the crisis on the other guy.

Step Three: Congress passes a continuing resolution in April restoring most of the cuts in exchange for a non-binding agreement to raise the retirement age to 85 in 2040 and everyone declares victory.

Of course, even if this outcome is realized, neither side has bothered to calculate the impact of their cartoon drama on the U.S. economy and our sputtering recovery. There’s a distinct possibility that another two months of bickering in this latest fake crisis could by itself extinguish glimmers of business and consumer confidence and spawn a very real Recession not unlike the downturn we recently emerged from. Then federal tax revenues will plunge, the budget deficit will explode and our long-term debt will exponentially increase — the exact opposite of what Congressional leaders claim they were trying to accomplish when they enacted the sequester.

This grim prospect has prompted calls for a ceasefire from some unexpected quarters. Even Karl Rove, Secretary of Political Warfare under President George W. Bush, is urging a compromise of sorts. In an Op-Ed piece this week, Rove suggested that Congress immediately pass a continuing resolution authorizing spending for the rest of the year, capping federal funding at sequester levels and giving President Obama the authority to decide where the cuts will be made to avoid the most onerous reductions. With his usual Machiavellian flourish, Rove’s solution would appease Democrats who want to avoid cuts to social programs like Head Start, while enabling Republicans to place the blame for Defense spending cuts directly on the president’s lap.

The most sage advice we can offer is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

At least one state appears to be acting on this suggestion: A bill making its way through the Montana legislature offers Montanans an alternative to the tainted meat that may fill supermarket shelves if federal meat inspectors are sent home. The Montana House of Representatives passed a bill last week, introduced by State Rep. Steve Lavin, to allow “game animals, fur-bearing animals, migratory game birds and upland game birds” who have been killed by a car to be harvested for food.

That’s right, they’re making it legal to eat roadkill. To which we can only say, in the immortal response of Wile E. Coyote staring up at the looming Acme safe:

“GULP!“

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

The post Sequestration Nation appeared first on Business Facilities.

Gov. Steve Beshear joined Newly Weds Foods executives, Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation and local officials to announce that the company will launch a regional food production facility in northern Kentucky with plans to create 115 jobs and a $57 million investment in Boone County and the Commonwealth.

“Newly Weds Foods is an international manufacturer and distributor of food ingredients that are used in thousands of products consumed around the world,” said Gov. Beshear. “We’re proud to welcome Newly Weds Foods to northern Kentucky and the Commonwealth. Soon more retail products on grocery store shelves and prepared items on restaurant menus in North America will contain ingredients made in Kentucky.”

Newly Weds Foods, a private, family owned business founded in 1932, is a global leader in food ingredient technology for the food processing and food service industries. The company employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.

“Demand for our products is growing around the world, and northern Kentucky provides a central location with an excellent workforce and transportation system,” said Charles T. Angell, Newly Weds Foods president. “We will be able to improve our service to our customers with this facility in northern Kentucky. We appreciate the level of cooperation and assistance provided to us from Boone County, Tri-ED, the local business community up to the Governor’s office.”

Newly Weds Foods purchased an existing 326,000-square-foot facility near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Newly Weds Foods joins an impressive group of companies in the business park, including Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America.

“We are thrilled that Newly Weds Foods will invest and open a new facility in Boone County that will create more than 100 new jobs for our region,” said Sen. John Schickel, of Union.

“Northern Kentucky’s workforce and reputation for excellence once again helped us attract a new company to our region,” said Rep. Addia Wuchner, of Florence. “Our region’s transportation infrastructure and our work ethic are second to none. We’re proud Newly Weds Foods will call Boone County home.”

“Newly Weds Foods joins a growing list of high-quality companies who recently expanded in our area, including L’Oreal, NorAm, DHL and iHerb,” said Gary Moore, Boone County Judge-Executive and chairman of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. “Northern Kentucky is an ideal location for many companies because of our low cost of business, great workforce and logistical advantage. We thank Newly Weds Foods for its commitment to northern Kentucky and welcome this outstanding company to our community.”

To encourage the investment and job creation in Northern Kentucky, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $6 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets. The company was also approved for a $500,000 sales/use tax refund through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act.

The post Newly Weds Foods To Invest $57 Million, Create 115 Jobs In Northern Kentucky appeared first on Business Facilities.

The company got its start back in 1917.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and Farmers Rice Milling Company Inc. have announced a $13.4 million expansion and modernization of the company’s rice mill in eastern Calcasieu Parish. The 55,000-square-foot expansion of the mill’s clean rice packaging and distribution facility will allow the company to increase processing speed and volume. The project will retain 87 jobs at the rice mill, with an average salary of $34,500, plus benefits.

Gov. Jindal said, “Farmers Rice Milling Company has a long history of buying rice from Louisiana farmers, and we’re proud they’re expanding right here in our state. We’ve made retaining and expanding Louisiana’s existing businesses our top economic development priority since taking office in 2008, and this expansion is another example of our commitment to make Louisiana the best place in the world to find a great job and pursue a rewarding career. Farmers Rice Milling Company could have chosen to invest in another state, but they picked Louisiana because of our strong business climate, outstanding farmers and our incomparable workforce.”

Farmers Rice Milling Company, a division of The Powell Group, operates the largest rice mill in Louisiana. The mill and related businesses form the largest agriculture-related business in Southwest Louisiana. Overall, the company employs more than 125 workers in the rice mill and related facilities in and around Lake Charles. The company also employs an additional 25 Louisiana citizens at its headquarters in Baton Rouge.

“This project ensures Farmers Rice Milling will continue to purchase rice from the farmers of Southwest Louisiana and grow its position as a leader in the world rice market,” said company CEO James Warshaw. “Farmers Rice Milling Company has been a key part of the agricultural economy in Louisiana for over 90 years, employing hundreds of workers and buying services from vendors and suppliers around the state. The company looks forward to continuing its work with LED and its goods relations with the communities of Southwest Louisiana.”

Farmers Rice Milling processes and mills rough rice at the Lake Charles facility, and then packages and distributes clean rice to customers from the site. The mill, which has been in continuous business since 1917, is investing in the new facility to expand its output and meet the demand of national and international customers. The mill purchases rice from rice-growing regions throughout Louisiana and serves customers in the United States and worldwide, including Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The mill purchases $120 million annually in locally grown rice, and supports those who work in the rice industry, from farmers to truck drivers. The mill is capable of processing more than 800 million pounds of rice per year.

“We are very pleased about today’s news from the Farmers Rice Milling Company,” said Shannon Spell, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury president. “For more than 95 years, this Calcasieu-based company has been a staple of the rice industry, reaching customers worldwide. This expansion provides a twofold benefit by increasing economic impact and retaining jobs. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury applauds the efforts of Louisiana Economic Development and Farmers Rice Milling Company, and we look forward to observing this expansion growth in the future.”

LED began working with Farmers Rice Milling on the modernization project in May 2011. To support the expansion, LED offered the company a competitive incentive package, including a Modernization Tax Credit of $425,000 payable over five years. The company is also expected to utilize the Industrial Tax Exemption Program.

“The SWLA Economic Development Alliance congratulates Farmers Rice Milling Company on this modernization project, which will increase their production,” said President and CEO George Swift of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. “Farmers Rice Milling has been a longtime leader in agribusiness in Southwest Louisiana. In addition to supporting local agriculture, they are a strong job provider for our region.”

The post Farmers Rice Milling Announces $13.4 Million Investment In Louisiana appeared first on Business Facilities.

Herbalife Ltd.

The agreement is based upon a cash purchase of $22.2 million and includes incentives from Winston Salem, Forsyth County and the state of North Carolina. The receipt of these incentives, coupled with an existing manufacturing facility and the availability of quality labor force in the Triad region, were key criteria that the company considered upon selecting this location above other cities in the southeast.

In addition to the building purchase, Herbalife plans to invest in excess of $100 million on machinery and technology, as well as a complete retrofit of the existing facility to ensure it is in full compliance with U.S. Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) for dietary supplements and food products. The facility will employ approximately 500 new positions when it reaches full production and it will manufacture Herbalife’s nutritional powders and liquids for the North American and other markets around the world.

“This acquisition is part of the ongoing execution of our previously stated ‘seed to feed’ strategy—vertically integrating our supply chain to give us even greater control of our products at every stage of the process and increasing our ability to meet the increased product needs of our independent distributors and their customers around the world,” said Rich Goudis, chief operating officer. “We are thankful to Gov. Perdue, who played a key role in our decision to locate our operations in North Carolina, and we are excited about the opportunities this new facility offers to both our business and the local economy.”

It is anticipated that the deal will close in late December 2012, subject to the completion of due diligence on the property.

The post Herbalife Purchases Manufacturing Facility In Winston Salem, NC appeared first on Business Facilities.

“Land O’Frost has tremendous future growth potential and today is just the beginning of what we hope will be a productive relationship,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Land O’Frost currently employs 40 professionals at its headquarters and more than 1,100 manufacturing employees at its four production plants located in Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas and Nebraska. The company will begin to transition its headquarters staff to the new Indiana facility after construction is completed.

“Our success over the past 10 years, coupled with our future plans, led us to the conclusion we needed to explore options for a new headquarters facility,” said David VanEekeren, president and chief executive officer of Land O’Frost. “Our new state-of-the art headquarters in Munster will not only provide us with the room to support our continued growth, but it will also allow us to create an environment that fosters stronger employee collaboration. The new headquarters will support our research and development initiatives and helps us continue to attract and retain top talent.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Land O’Frost, Inc. up to $750,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority will support the project through its Deal Closing Fund. Also, the town of Munster offered funds using revenues generated from the issuance of a tax increment financing (TIF) bond.

“Land O’Frost is exactly the type of company that Munster is reaching out to locate in Munster,” said Dave Nellans, president of the Munster Town Council. “They are a well established growing company that will bring professional employees in to the community. Their corporate headquarters will be an important part of our business community. They have a reputation of being outstanding corporate citizens.”

The post Land O’Frost to Move Headquarters from Illinois to Indiana appeared first on Business Facilities.

An aerial photo of the site along Lisburn Road (top) in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, shows preparation under way for Ahold USA’s meat-packaging facility, which is set to open in 2013 and create more than 800 jobs. The facility will prepare beef and pork for sale in the company’s Pennsylvania and Maryland Giant Food Stores. Photo/Submitted

On November 14, 2012, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced that Ahold USA will invest at least $63 million to build a new meat processing facility in Cumberland County and has entered into an operating agreement with Vantage Foods to run the facility and hire at least 850 new employees.

“As governor, I am committed to ushering in an economic environment that encourages private sector job growth,” Corbett said. “This announcement means 850 new jobs are coming to Central Pennsylvania. These are jobs that could have gone to another state if not for our improved business climate and economic development efforts.”

Ahold USA considered locating a state-of-the-art, USDA certified meat processing and packaging facility in several states, including Pennsylvania. The company ultimately chose to construct a 162,000-square foot facility in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County.

Ahold USA and Vantage Foods received a funding offer from the Department of Community and Economic Development. Ahold USA will receive a $1.275 million PA First grant, which will be used towards the cost of the project. Vantage Foods was offered and is eligible to apply for $360,000 in job training assistance and up to $1.7 million in Job Creation Tax Credits.

“Ahold USA is proud to be part of the economic engine of Central Pennsylvania, bringing new jobs to the region and a new business, Vantage Foods, to the state,” Mark McGowan, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Ahold USA said. “This meat packaging facility is a significant investment in the future and these incentives will help us ensure its long-term success.”

“Central Pennsylvania is an ideal location for our newest U.S. facility,” Leonal Kilgore, President and Chief Operating Officer, Vantage U.S. said. “The Lower Allen Township community is well-resourced with strategic access to major distribution arteries and a vital local labor force. It is our full intention to earn our place as a good corporate citizen and to generate strong economic spin off for the community and surrounding area.”

The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team, a group of economic development professionals that works directly with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania.

“This is a real win for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Lower Allen Township,” H. Edward Black, president of the Lower Allen Township Commissioners said. “This facility will create family sustaining jobs, contribute to a healthier local economy and is expected to attract additional industrial development to the township.”

The post Ahold USA Building New Meat Processing Facility In PA appeared first on Business Facilities.