Manufacturing is cooking in KC!

May. 13, 2010  |  By: Jill McCarthy  |  Category: Economic Development, Recruitment Success
Tags: allen foods, bimbo bakeries, food processing, topeka

Recently we had the great pleasure of teaming with our local community, state and private sector partners to announce the decision by Allen Foods to build a new food manufacturing facility in Topeka, Kansas, within the greater KC area.  The new 220,000-sq.-ft. facility will open in May 2011 with one bread baking line, and will quickly add a second – growing the initial jobs created from 50 to 95 employees, and the original capital investment from $30 million to $44.5 million for this state-of-the-art operation.

At the announcement, Dick Bay, regional vice president of operations for Allen Foods, provided a “smiley face” sketch of the company’s current facilities in the U.S.  They have existing baking operations in California, Texas and the Northeast … virtually creating a wide open footprint that is underserved in the Midwest and Central States.  And, that’s where our partnership work began …

Site Selection Group of Dallas, Texas, first contacted us several months ago during their early evaluation on a multitude of metros across the middle of the country.  Focused on demographics, workforce opportunities, employer interviews, utility & operational costs, we knuckled down with our local and state economic development, real estate, utility and transportation partners, along with our top-notch research team to provide a comprehensive overview on the benefits of a KC regional location.

Many weeks later, after much interaction, it was acknowledged that KC was indeed a finalist for the project.  CB Richard Ellis – both the local KC team and the Chicago-based food facilities group – revisited our original site and building opportunities, and following a real estate site visit, narrowed the focus even further within the region to two primary finalists.

KC’s own PricewaterhouseCoopers office then took the reins to facilitate incentive discussions.  Barbara Hake, Kansas Department of Commerce, ever the consummate professional, led the State’s efforts with patience, professionalism and drive. Steve Jenkins, Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, was tireless in his efforts to win this project.  After much deliberation … SUCCESS!!

Allen Foods is within the Bimbo (pronounced BEEMbo) Bakeries USA family of companies. And, part of Grupo Bimbo, based in Mexico, the world leader in the commercial baker industry. Grupo Bimbo is currently No. 5 among the largest food corporations in the world. It was purchased in 2005 by international billionaire, Carlos Slim.

A big thank you to all of the KCADC and KCSmartPort partners that made this project a win for the KC region: GO Topeka/Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce; City of Topeka, Kansas; Kansas Department of Commerce; CB Richard Ellis; Kansas Gas Service; Westar Energy, Inc.