Skjodt-Barrett Foods, a 25-year-old Canadian specialty food manufacturer, has announced it plans to locate its U.S. headquarters in Lebanon, creating up to 300 new jobs by 2013.
The company, which currently makes custom fruit fillings, icings, glazes, sauces, marinades, baby food and spouted pouches of fruit snacks for retail food producers, will invest $19.78 million to acquire and renovate the existing 215,000 square-foot former M&I Windows property in Lebanon Industrial Park.
“Again Indiana has come away the winner in a worldwide competition for this new headquarters and the hundreds of jobs that come with it. As long as we continue to maintain a low-cost, fiscally sound location for business, we’ll catch the attention of companies like Skjodt-Barrett as they consider global expansions,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Skjodt-Barrett has six locations in Canada employing 270 associates. Lebanon will be its first U.S. operation. The company expects to complete renovations to the Boone County site by September and hire the first 150 skilled administrators, food equipment operators, quality control professionals, equipment mechanics and production line packers within the next 12 months.
“From the very first introduction local and state officials worked very hard to help us understand the benefits of coming to Indiana. The competitive cost of doing business, combined with the support we received, made the choice easy for us. We want to be part of the success that the state of Indiana has enjoyed under the leadership of Governor Daniels,” said Dan Skjodt, Skjodt-Barrett president and chief executive officer.
The company has been named among the top 10 best small and medium employers in Canada according to the Canadian publication, The Globe and Mail.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Skjodt-Barrett Foods up to $1.6 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $275,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Lebanon will consider additional property tax abatement and tax increment financing at the request of the Boone County Economic Development Corporation.
“Skjodt-Barrett had several choices for this new operation. We are delighted they allowed us to work together to bring this new investment to Lebanon,” said Mayor Huck Lewis.
Skjodt-Barrett’s plans to locate a U.S. headquarters in Central Indiana comes on the heels of Allison Transmission’s announcement of intentions to invest $89 million in its Speedway headquarters, adding more than 200 new jobs over the next two years.
