GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Cheese manufacturer Schreiber Foods Inc. is set to open its new headquarters in Green Bay on Monday, and city officials are hoping the new complex becomes a cornerstone that transforms downtown into a new center for businesses, homes and attractions.
As many as 700 people will work in the complex, which includes state-of-the-art facilities for food-product development and testing, Press-Gazette Media reports.
The 250,000-square-foot headquarters is on the site of the former Port Plaza Mall. The city demolished the mall and bought and donated an adjacent hotel, which was later bulldozed. In all, the city committed about $14 million in assistance toward the $85 million complex.
The headquarters features limestone panels on the exterior, a five-story circular staircase and an outdoor courtyard as big as a football field. It also has laboratories for product development and testing.
The employee-owned company makes cream cheese, processed cheese and other dairy products. With the new complex, future food ideas will be tested in controlled settings and presented to clients in large production kitchens. Previously, the work was conducted awkwardly in employee lunchrooms or converted conference rooms, said Bob Nielsen, a Schreiber project manager.
Schreiber Foods was founded in 1945 with a cheese processing plant in a former brewery building in Green Bay. Today, the company has 35 plants and distribution centers in eight states and nine international locations, employing more than 6,000 people companywide.
Schreiber is one of the biggest privately held companies in the U.S. with an estimated $4.5 billion in revenue last year. The company also has a plant in West Bend, which makes cream cheese, and a process cheese plant in Green Bay.
The dairy giant supplies store-brand cheese to the grocery industry. It's also the largest provider of processed cheese to the food-service industry, including restaurants, fast-food chains, schools, universities and hospitals.
