USA— King Milling Co., a West Michigan-based family-owned flour mill, has announced a US$42 million expansion that will build a new flour mill in Lowell, Michigan.
Vice President Patrick Doyle said the flour mill is expanding in response to growing demand from its customer base. The company mills soft red, soft white, hard red winter, and hard red spring wheat, either individually or blended and produces varieties of white flour, whole wheat flour, and wheat bran.
Once operational at the end of 2023, the new 35,000-square-foot, six-floor mill at King Milling’s headquarters in downtown Lowell will produce 750,000 pounds of flour a day, enabling the company to produce more than 2.5 million pounds per day in its four mills on-site.
The facility will include wheat storage bins, tempering bins, cleaning, and sifting equipment, and finished flour bins.
“King Milling is proud of our century-plus presence in the Lowell community and the tremendous growth we have experienced since our humble beginnings in 1890,” Doyle said.
“This is the largest single investment we have made, and it will provide benefits to Michigan’s agriculture and food processing sectors for many years to come,” he continued.
The company says the new US$42 million expansion will bring the country’s most modern mill to West Michigan, allowing the company to add six new jobs in the first two years of operation.
The expansion and job creation project is supported by both the city of Lowell and the state of Michigan. According to reports, the City of Lowell has approved a 12-year, 50% tax abatement for the project during its latest city council meeting.
“King Milling Co. has been a cornerstone of our community for generations,” Lowell City Manager Mike Burns said. “Its iconic mills are instantly recognizable in Lowell. We are pleased the company has decided to expand its operations and add new jobs right here at home.”
In May King Milling Co. received a US$250,000 Food and Agriculture Investment Program grant from the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The performance-based grants are awarded to businesses looking to increase production space, expand services through a sustainable and scalability focus, create new good-paying jobs and help increase Michigan’s food and agriculture global footprint.
King Milling is working to finalize permits so it can break ground on the project this summer.
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