Sugar Creek CFO: Expect $100M investment

The Sugar Creek Packing Co. project that will bring 400 jobs to Wayne County is moving along and company officials say the plant will be operational in July 2015.

Company chief financial officer Tom Bollinger told the Wayne County Council on Wednesday that the company will invest $100 million in the project in construction, equipment and land acquisition.

“The project is moving along well. The new building is almost completely enclosed,” Bollinger said. “Thus far Wayne County has been a great community to work in.”

Bollinger came to the county council meeting to ask that council allow the slight restructuring of the company’s bond agreement with the county, which council approved.

Bollinger had no information on when hiring would begin or how local residents could apply and other company officials were not available to share information throughout Wednesday.

Sugar Creek is an Ohio company that purchased and is retrofitting the former Really Cool Foods plant in the Gateway Industrial Park near Cambridge City. It is a food manufacturer that focuses on protein products, including pork and turkey bacon, bacon bits, meatballs, pizza toppings and chicken products.

It is based in Washington Court House, Ohio, east of Dayton and operates five facilities in Ohio and Kansas that employ more than 1,500 workers.

Bollinger said Sugar Creek will buy its electric power from Hoosier Energy, a power generation and transmission cooperative owned by 17 cooperatives, including Whitewater Valley REMC. Hoosier Energy provides power for those cooperatives.

He said Hoosier Energy will build a new substation on the Gateway park grounds to accommodate the demand from Sugar Creek and others in the park.

Sandy Cason, director of marketing and corporate relations for Whitewater Valley REMC, said Hoosier Energy is planning a $1.9 million investment in the project. She said construction is expected to begin this fall and will take about 10 months.

Sugar Creek is building a 270,000-square-foot addition to the existing 77,000-square-foot existing plant.

The company has purchased 90 acres just west of its present site for possible expansion, though none is currently planned, Bollinger said.

Staff writer Bill Engle: (765) 973-4481 or bengle@pal-item.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/billengle_PI.