Fresh Mark announces another expansion
By MATTHEW RINK
The Independent
Posted Jan 13, 2010 @ 10:42 PM
MASSILLON, OH — Something’s sizzling at Fresh Mark.
The company is in the midst of completing a 20,000-square-foot addition at its 1888 Southway St. S.E. facility in Massillon. Now, as part of the second phase, it plans to build an additional 70,000-square-feet. The project will begin next week and will be completed by November.
The project will increase Fresh Mark’s bacon production capacity and will accommodate the increasing needs of a broad base of Fresh Mark’s customers, according to Kristin Clemmer, director of marketing .Clemmer said the growth is due to Fresh Mark’s business in the retail, export and food service marketplaces. She could not calculate how many jobs will be created. The company currently employs 290 workers at the Massillon facility.
Cooper & Associates of Canton is handling the expansion.
The Massillon Planning Commission approved Fresh Mark’s request to combine several lots for the project on Wednesday. The Planning Commission also rezoned some of the lots from residential to light industrial. Fresh Mark, a supplier of smoked and processed meats to the retail and food service industries, now has an additional 42 acres for the current project and future expansion.
“Through the years they have purchased individual lots immediately south of their plant,” Mayor Frank Cicchinelli said. “That’s the purpose of the replat, to replat all of those properties into one parcel. Some of that land is residential so they have to make it all industrial. “It appears they are in expansion mode,” he added. “That’s positive for the city because it’s a good company that creates jobs.”
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