Benestar Brands, an international food producer and the world’s leading producer of pork snacks, in collaboration with JobsOhio, Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE), and Scioto County Economic Development, recently announced an investment of $2.5 million to expand their current operations in Scioto County. The new manufacturing and distribution facility will be located in the SOAR Business Park, adjacent to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport, in Minford, Ohio. The expansion is being supported by a tax credit from the Ohio Department of Development and a $100,000 JobsOhio Grant.
“Benestar Brands currently employs more than 125 hard-working Ohioans at its first location in the state in Scioto County,” said J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhio. “We welcome the company’s continued growth in Ohio as it adds a new tortilla chip manufacturing facility and 40 new jobs for the region.”
The new plant will add to Benestar’s existing footprint in Chicago Il, Arlington Tx, City of Industry Ca, Portsmouth Oh, and Saltillo, Mexico. The plant will manufacture tortilla chips and act as a regional consolidation center for pork snacks. Pork snacks will continue to be produced in the existing Portsmouth, OH facility. Benestar Brands will be investing new capital in the site and are projecting to bring 40 new jobs to Scioto County by 2025.
“We’re excited to expand our existing operations in Scioto County and be partnering with the Southern Ohio Port Authority and Scioto County Commissioners on expanding our physical footprint,” said Bruce Myers, President of Benestar Brands. “The region has proven to be a good business partner; receiving additional support from our partnership with OhioSE and JobsOhio. We see this as an opportunity to leverage the favorable logistics to both the Northeast and Southeast regions and leverage a local team with expertise in food production.”
The new facility will include warehousing capacity and bring the two operations under the same roof with shared warehousing, managerial staff, and cost efficiencies.
Robert Horton, Director the Southern Ohio Port Authority, and Scioto County Economic Development Director, applauded the expansion. “We’ve worked hard to get this first building going, the support of the Scioto County Commissioners and our state and regional economic development partners, and now Benestar Brands, has been unprecedented. This will be the first of many developments out here at SOAR.”
Commissioner Cathy Coleman shared her feelings of joy in the announcement. “We knew if we built it, they would come, and that good things would happen. This is just the beginning. Watch and see!”
“When they announced the by-pass we knew we needed to get an economic flag planted out at SOAR,” said Commissioner Bryan Davis. “We’ve invested millions in infrastructure and the first spec building. This is great news for our community. Benestar will have an even larger manufacturing footprint now and we anticipate an amazing productive relationship moving forward!”
Commissioner Chairman Scottie Powell was elated and very glad to see positive traction. “Having Benestar on board and working with us to make this happen is phenomenal. Congratulations to Robert Horton, his team, and Benestar Brands. The plan is working!”
“OhioSE is extremely pleased to be able to support Benestar Brands’ expansion into the brand new Scioto County Port Authority’s speculative building at the Scioto County Airport at Minford,” said OhioSE President Mike Jacoby. “Evans Food Group has long been a valuable employer in Scioto County. The expansion into a tortilla chip line secures their future here and will add quality jobs to the market. We also congratulate the County Development Director Robert Horton and the Scioto County commissioners on filling their building in record time. This was a great success all around.”
benestarbrands.com sciotocountyohdevelopment.com www.ohiose.com www.jobsohio.com
