©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| State Provides Incentives for Farmland Foods Plant Expansion |
FIRST REPORTED 3:00pm 10/11/10 The area's largest employer is getting state tax credits and grants to expand its plant, keep its current workforce, and possibly add some more employees.
The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity formally announced the package Monday at the Farmland Foods plant in Monmouth. The state is giving the plant almost $9 million as part of an additional $12 million investment Farmland parent Smithfield Foods is making in the plant.
Smithfield Foods President and Chief Operating Officer George Richter says state and local leaders are making the expansion possible, but that's not who they're doing it for.
"The people who made that possible -- I really want you to think about this today if you get the chance to see them -- are those 1,400 people who go through that gate every day," Richter said. "The only reason we're doing this is because they do it, and they do it well. They come here every day. They work hard. It's very, very tough work. We pay well. We like to pay what we like to consider one of the highest wages in the industry."
The expansion includes an addition that will include a new animal harvesting floor, and technology upgrades that will help the plant get production up to capacity.
Work on the plant's own waste water treatment facility will also be done, along with the creation of about 50 additional jobs.
(Farmland Foods Monmouth Plant General Manager Gene Cook helps make the announcement at the site of the plant expansion.)
(Galesburg Mayor Sal Garza, also the DCEO Regional Manager, speaks with Monmouth Mayor Rod Davies and others Monday at the Farmland Foods Expansion.)
(The building that will be used for the Farmland Foods expansion. WGIL News Story and Photos by Will Stevenson.) |
|
| 10 11 10 by Newsroom |
Click here for the WGIL News Archive
Click here for national news
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.
