USA — General Mills, a leading global food company and one of southeastern Ohio’s largest employers Inc. is investing US$100 million to expand operations its Wellston, Ohio manufacturing facility.
The investment, which is part of a partnership with JobsOhio, Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE), the Ohio Department of Development and the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership (JCEDP) is set to create 30 new jobs, bringing the number of full-time employees at the facility to over 1,000.
Funds from the investment will be put toward building, machinery and equipment costs for the facility, which produces Totino’s brand pizzas and pizza rolls. Totino’s started out as a small pizza parlor in Minnesota in 1951. Today, the brand has scaled its operations across the country and sells over 300 million party pizzas per year across the nation.
“General Mills has been a cornerstone of this community for more than 35 years and our employees exude a lot of pride in making food the world loves,” said Stephanie Weaver, plant manager at General Mills’ Wellston facility. “We’re excited to grow our business and employee base in southeastern Ohio and having strong local, regional and state partners has been instrumental in our success.”
We’re excited to grow our business and employee base in southeastern Ohio and having strong local, regional and state partners has been instrumental in our success
The expansion is being supported by a tax credit from the Ohio Department of Development and a US$400,000 JobsOhio Grant, in collaboration with Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE), toward the building, machinery, and equipment costs.
“The strides our local leadership, especially in the City of Wellston, have made to ensure adequate infrastructure is in place to support General Mills’ operations are validated when the company commits to such an impactful investment as this,” said Sam Brady, president of the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership.
“This is a tremendous win for Jackson County,” adds Mike Jacoby, OhioSE president, who anticipates that this project will bring significant benefits to Jackson County after it is completed.
“General Mills’ investment in Wellston is yet another success story on the benefits of doing business in southern Ohio. The growth tied to this project will contribute to the long-term future of this plant and our region’s food manufacturing industry.”
General Mills is one of several food manufacturers that call Jackson County home. Southeast Ohio’s connectivity makes it efficient to source raw materials and ship finished products nationwide with reliable rail service and convenient Interstate highway access.
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