LITTLE ROCK — ConAgra Foods will spend $100 million and add 80 jobs at its Russellville plant as it relocates two newly acquired frozen meal product lines to Arkansas.
Company officials announced the Russellville expansion Monday.
Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra expects to begin producing Bertolli and P.F. Chang frozen meals at the Arkansas plant sometime in the summer of 2013, said Dan Hare, ConAgra’s director of communications and external relations.
Hare said equipment now being used to prepare the frozen meals at a plant in Owensboro, Ky., will be moved to Arkansas. ConAgra purchased the two product lines from Netherlands-based Unilever.
Hare said the money will be used to expand ConAgra’s existing production capabilities, including adding additional space.
ConAgra’s Russellville plant produces food lines that include Banquet, Healthy Choice and Marie Callendar frozen meals, employing about 1,350 people.
In late July, Unilever announced it was selling its frozen meals business to ConAgra for $265 million. While Unilever retained the Bertolli trademark and will continue selling pasta sauce under that brand, the frozen meal line will be transferred to Russellville. Unilver told the Associated Press that the Bertolli and P.F. Chang’s frozen meal brands generated about $300 million in sales in 2011.
ConAgra will use the Bertolli and P.F. Chang brands under license from Unilever.
“ConAgra has a long history in Russellville and we are pleased to grow our presence in the area,” Mike Tracy, ConAgra’s senior vice president of consumer foods supply chain, said in a statement.“Our dedicated employees, along with the support of the city of Russellville and the state of Arkansas will allow us to make great food here for years to come.”
The company has operated in the Russellville area since 1965.
Jeff Pipkin, president of the Arkansas Valley Alliance for Economic Development, called the expansion vitally important for a city with an existing diverse manufacturing base.
Pipkin said the alliance began generally discussing a project with ConAgra officials five or six months ago, but didn’t get into serious talks until two months ago,around the time of the purchase announcement.
“They are retooling and changing out some [food] lines and adding new lines,” Pipkin said. “And also adding quite a bit of freezer space for warehousing and also truck docks and parking areas and a lot of infrastructure changes,” including access roads, truck parking electrical upgrades and equipment.
“This is the single largest industrial investment in the river valley in over 40 years,” Pipkin said. The last time we saw this kind of money invested they were building the nuclear plant,” he added, referring to Arkansas Nuclear One on nearby Lake Dardanelle.
Pipkin said ConAgra also spent $92 million in 2009 upgrading its Russellville plant to improve its frozen meal production lines.
For its latest expansion, ConAgra is taking advantage of three state incentive programs, said Joe Holmes, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
In addition to using $742,000 from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund to pay for a new access road and parking lot improvements, the project will be eligible for the Advantage Arkansas Program with provides and income tax credit based on the payroll cost of new, full-time employees, and the Tax Back program, which provides sales tax refunds for eligible building materials and machinery used in an expansion.
Holmes said he didn’t have any estimate on how much in benefits might be paid through Advantage Arkansas and Tax Back because that will depend on actual payroll and what the company spends on qualified building materials and equipment.
Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday’s announcement reflects the state’s longtime presence in food processing.
“When you see world class companies like ConAgra Foods locate and then expand in Arkansas, it shows the strength of our state and our workforce,” Beebe said in a statement.
Pipken said ConAgra’s expansion also reflects the diversity of manufacturing in the territory served by the River Valley Alliance, saying there are about 45 major manufacturers in the area.
“Food processing and related industries is probably the largest industry segment. ... We’ve got automotive, We’ve got plastics. We’ve got electronics. Of course, nuclear power,” Pipkin said. “I tell people we’ve got every job here from floor sweeper to nuclear physicist to everything in between.”
Business, Pages 21 on 09/25/2012