Schreiber hikes Logan investment for 2nd phase

A Wisconsin-based food producer has boosted the amount it will spend on an expansion project in Logan.

Schreiber Foods Inc. was approved in May for a state tax credit incentive for a $68 million expansion to modernize its cream cheese processing capabilities, with a second phase to include the construction of a 300,000-square-foot cold storage facility.

While the number of jobs tied to the expansion, 52 over eight years, will not change, the company has adjusted{mprestriction ids="1,3"} its capital expenditure related to the cold storage part of the project from $48 million to $115 million.

Jim Mackey, global manager for the company, told the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board that the $48 million estimate was based on two other cold storage warehouses the company had built in Missouri and Texas the past few years. However, the 400,000-square-foot warehouse in Logan will require refrigeration of the entire building and also required more engineering related to snow loads on the roof, which was not an issue in Texas and Missouri.

Other increased costs are related to inflation on raw materials and labor, and adding an automatic storage/retrieval system and 48 laser-guided vehicles, he said.

As a result of the increased company spending, the Go Utah board boosted its tax credit incentive for the company from a maximum of $1.2 million approved in May to $1.97 million. New estimated state tax revenue from the project is about $7.9 million, up from the May projection of about $4.17 million.

Founded in 1945, Schreiber has more than 9,000 employees on five continents and produces cream cheese, natural cheese, process cheese, beverages and yogurt. Its annual sales total more than $6.8 billion. Among its largest customers are McDonald’s and Walmart.

The company’s Logan operations have been in place since 1972 and produce cream cheese, natural cheese, process cheese and yogurt. It also has a distribution center.

The Logan plant produces over 400 million pounds of product annually and next year should reach nearly 450 million pounds. The Logan plant employs about 800 people, and another 350 work at a plant in nearby Smithfield.

Go Utah does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with the state, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.{/mprestriction}