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Buddig to expand Illinois presence

Company chooses Montgomery, Illinois, rather than Indiana

by Melanie Jongsma

HOMEWOOD, Ill. (January 22, 2018) – Illinois was in tight competition with Indiana to win the latest expansion project by Homewood-based Carl Buddig & Co. Indiana had previously won Buddig’s 2013 project in a similar face-off, citing the proximity to their existing South Holland, Illinois, plant but with lower property taxes and affordable cost of doing business within Indiana.

This time Buddig chose to purchase the former Butterball facility in Montgomery for their expanded operations. The facility has been vacant since prior operations ceased in July 2017. Buddig will utilize the 280,000-square-foot facility to grow its manufacturing footprint for lunch meats and specialty meats production.

Due to the similarity of the two companies’ operations, Buddig is an ideal new tenant for the facility and will benefit greatly from the availability of trained workers in the area. The project will create 250 jobs within the first two years of operations and then ramp up to 350 jobs by year five. Buddig employs over 1,200 people within Illinois. Their most recent purchase of Rupari Food Services kept 200 jobs in Illinois.

“With our customers’ demand for great-tasting Buddig products, it was vital that we increase our manufacturing facilities,” said Bob Buddig, CEO of Carl Buddig and Company. “The Montgomery facility is our fourth manufacturing facility in Illinois, and we look forward to starting production there this Spring.”

Governor Bruce Rauner, the Department of Commerce, and Intersect Illinois worked with State Senator Jim Oberweis, State Representative Keith Wheeler, local government officials, local economic development organizations, and other key stakeholders to ensure this project’s success.

“Buddig’s decision to invest and expand within Illinois is a testament to the hard work that is being done by all of us, as a team, to attract investment and create a business environment that is competitive with our neighbors,” said Intersect Illinois President & CEO Mark Peterson. “We will continue to build upon this success and bring more opportunity to every corner of the state.”

Karen Noble, Executive Vice President of Human Resources added, “We have already posted open job positions for the new Montgomery location on the Careers page of our Buddig.com website. We encourage anyone interested in working at the new Montgomery location to apply.”

 

Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma
Melanie Jongsma grew up in Lansing, Illinois, and believes The Lansing Journal has an important role to play in building community through trustworthy information.