Richmond Baking Co. Affiliate Picks Kentucky Site
A more than century-old Hoosier company is planning its next expansion outside the state. A subsidiary of Richmond Baking Co. has announced a new facility in Versailles, Kentucky that could eventually employ more than 300.
The Palladium-Item reports the company selected Kentucky for the More Than A Bakery LLC operation over properties in Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio.
More Than A Bakery LLC says the facility will be between 250,000 and 300,000 square-feet. It will be constructed on more than 100 acres, which the company says will allow for future expansion. The contract baking manufacturer will make cookies, crackers, crumbs and other goods for companies of all sizes.
Construction is set to begin this summer and production could begin by the end of next year.
Economic Development Corp. of Wayne County President Valerie Shaffer told the Palladium-Item the organization and the state "worked very closely with the site selection consultant and the executive team at the baking company," to try and keep the expansion in-state. She says a site at Richmond’s Midwest Industrial Park was runner-up to the location in Kentucky.
Shaffer told the publication "we’re very disappointed it won’t be going here, but we are fortunate we are not losing any of their existing operations and employment. They’re coming off a couple of exciting years."
Richmond Baking President Bill Quigg says the Richmond plant is "bursting at the seams" in terms of production and the company has been looking to grow for a while.
The company, which has existing operations in Richmond and Georgia, bills itself as the oldest family-owned cookie and cracker bakery in the United States. Its heritage dates back to 1902.