VIRGINIA SPOTLIGHT
Beer and Chocolate
Head Multi-Course Menu
Head Multi-Course Menu
Five of the state's top 20 projects thus far in 2004
are in the food and beverage sector, which comprises around 10 percent
of all 2004 projects in Virginia.
Northwest Virginia has seen two recent food and beverage sector expansions near the Shenandoah River, both from longtime employers. First came Hershey in June 2004 with a $48-million investment that will add 110 jobs "getting peanut butter in your chocolate" at the company's 25-year-old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup plant, which already employs 600.
Next, in August 2004, came Coors Brewing Co., which
is constructing a new brewery at its existing site in Elkton, just east
of Harrisonburg, and like its Colorado home, adjacent to skiing territory.
The investment is projected to fall between $160 million and $190 million,
and will add up to 10 positions to a current payroll of 467 at the 17-year-old
facility. The city of Elkton is also home to a Merck & Co. facility
that recently had a clean-room retrofit.
"We anticipate that this build-out will achieve significant savings and financial returns, bring brewing capacity much closer to our important East Coast markets and distributors, and significantly reduce the inherent risk of having only one major brewing facility," said Leo Kiely, president and CEO of Coors. Company spokespersons have iterated that this move is going forward independent of Coors' ongoing merger negotiations with Molson, as the company does not intend to use Molson facilities to serve the U.S. market.
Virginia hedges its own brewing risk, as the Commonwealth is also home to an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Williamsburg that saw a $200-million modernization project get under way in 2003, expected to be complete in 2005.
The region's water quality also played into a September 2004 announcement by Universal Food and Beverage Company, Inc., a newly formed firm that is purchasing Grayson Springs Water in Grayson County. The facility, which has been dormant since early 2003, will receive a $6.9-million expansion investment that will see 151 new jobs created. The Naperville, Ill.-based company also plans to construct a new production and warehouse facility within 15 months. Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin lost out because of the high-quality aquifer and work force Grayson County had to offer.
Dairy operations have found the state to their taste as well, with expansions in 2004 from H.P. Hood under its own name and that of newly acquired Crowley Foods, making a $2.7-million investment in Bristol. But the biggest is a $57-million expansion of the Morningstar Foods distribution center in Rockingham County. The division of Dean Foods will create 50 more jobs at the facility, one of 120 that Dean operates in the U.S. and Spain.
"Dean Foods chose the Mt. Crawford facility for this expansion for numerous reasons," said Dean Strobel, senior plant manager, at the August 2004 announcement. "One of the most important is the excellent labor pool and employee work ethic that we have seen with previous expansions to the facility, as well the proximity to the East Coast population base and existing land to expand our operations."
Work force was the key in Emporia-Greensville too, which welcomed in September a $4.5-million investment from Veggie Patch, a brand of refrigerated vegetarian and soy cuisine manufacturer FoodTech International, based in New Haven, Conn.
Northwest Virginia has seen two recent food and beverage sector expansions near the Shenandoah River, both from longtime employers. First came Hershey in June 2004 with a $48-million investment that will add 110 jobs "getting peanut butter in your chocolate" at the company's 25-year-old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup plant, which already employs 600.
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"We anticipate that this build-out will achieve significant savings and financial returns, bring brewing capacity much closer to our important East Coast markets and distributors, and significantly reduce the inherent risk of having only one major brewing facility," said Leo Kiely, president and CEO of Coors. Company spokespersons have iterated that this move is going forward independent of Coors' ongoing merger negotiations with Molson, as the company does not intend to use Molson facilities to serve the U.S. market.
Virginia hedges its own brewing risk, as the Commonwealth is also home to an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Williamsburg that saw a $200-million modernization project get under way in 2003, expected to be complete in 2005.
The region's water quality also played into a September 2004 announcement by Universal Food and Beverage Company, Inc., a newly formed firm that is purchasing Grayson Springs Water in Grayson County. The facility, which has been dormant since early 2003, will receive a $6.9-million expansion investment that will see 151 new jobs created. The Naperville, Ill.-based company also plans to construct a new production and warehouse facility within 15 months. Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin lost out because of the high-quality aquifer and work force Grayson County had to offer.
Dairy operations have found the state to their taste as well, with expansions in 2004 from H.P. Hood under its own name and that of newly acquired Crowley Foods, making a $2.7-million investment in Bristol. But the biggest is a $57-million expansion of the Morningstar Foods distribution center in Rockingham County. The division of Dean Foods will create 50 more jobs at the facility, one of 120 that Dean operates in the U.S. and Spain.
"Dean Foods chose the Mt. Crawford facility for this expansion for numerous reasons," said Dean Strobel, senior plant manager, at the August 2004 announcement. "One of the most important is the excellent labor pool and employee work ethic that we have seen with previous expansions to the facility, as well the proximity to the East Coast population base and existing land to expand our operations."
Work force was the key in Emporia-Greensville too, which welcomed in September a $4.5-million investment from Veggie Patch, a brand of refrigerated vegetarian and soy cuisine manufacturer FoodTech International, based in New Haven, Conn.