CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. (AP) — A food-processing company has pushed back the date for restarting a closed factory in eastern Indiana where it plans to eventually have 400 workers.
The delay by Sugar Creek Packing Co. comes because of changes in construction plans for a sewage treatment plant at the former Really Cool Foods plant near Cambridge City, the Palladium-Item reported (http://pinews.co/1fmcVWu ). The company had planned to begin limited production at the plant in July 2014, but has delayed that until early 2015.
Instead of building an addition to the 77,000-square-foot existing plant, a separate building is now planned for the sewage treatment plant and a remote engine room for ammonia refrigeration, said Timothy Sparks, the company's project manager.
"This will be our largest campus as a company," Sparks said. "We need the additional space for production."
The Washington Court House, Ohio-based company has facilities in Ohio and Kansas and prepares a variety of raw and fully cooked products for domestic and international customers.
Really Cool Foods had about 130 workers when it shut down in 2011, having never come close to its plans announced in 2007 for having 1,000 employees in Cambridge City's industrial park about 50 miles east of Indianapolis.
Sugar Creek bought the factory through a U.S. bankruptcy court last year and plans to have workers process pork and chicken products there.
Sparks said work on retrofitting of the factory is going according to schedule.
Sugar Creek has also bought an additional 90 acres west of its present site for possible future expansion.
"If we need the additional space it would be available," Sparks said. "In the meantime, our intention is to lease that land for farming."
Wayne County Commissioner Denny Burns said he was excited by Sugar Creek's plans for the factory.
"They have already expanded their original plans twice," Burns said. "We're working very closely with them so if they need any permits or advice we are there for them."