Beech-Nut plant to open one year from today - The Buzz: Business ...

The steel structure is about one-quarter complete at the 1,400-foot-long headquarters and distribution center that’s rising at the town of Florida Business Park off Route 5S in Montgomery County.

But top officials at Hero/Beech-Nut said this afternoon the $124 million building, covering more than 11 acres, will be ready to produce as many as 100,000 cases of baby food each day when it opens a year from now.

“Despite some modest setbacks, including the wet weather in recent months, construction of our new facility is on time and on budget,” said Christoph Rudolf, the company’s president and chief executive officer.

The plant is creating as many as 400 construction jobs. With the facility, Montgomery County will retain 356 Beech-Nut jobs, which will move from existing plants in Canajoharie and Fort Plain. The project also will create another 135 new jobs.

In recent weeks, Beech-Nut has been seeking to hire up to 100 workers. About 40 percent of those openings have been filled, officials said today, and hiring will continue through November.

The plant has faced some opposition. Unions have been critical of at least one contract that went to a nonunion, out-of-state company. And the mayor of Canajoharie has criticized the company, saying it is abandoning his Mohawk River community.

Beech-Nut officials declined to talk about ongoing litigation brought against the company by the village. A legal challenge sought to halt work at the site while courts decided whether its impact on Canajoharie had been adequately addressed in assessing the plant’s environmental impact.

The Gloversville Leader-Herald newspaper reported last month that the village of Canajoharie planned to appeal a state Supreme Court judge’s decision dismissing the challenge.

Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. is a unit of Lenzburg, Switzerland-based Hero AG, a privately held company with sales of $1.4 billion in 2006.

Beech-Nut will receive as much as $106.5 million in taxpayer-funded incentives. Annual wages at the company’s current plants in Canajoharie and Fort Plain total about $14.1 million, with production workers earning on average $12 to $14 an hour, according to local economic development officials.

Headquarters staff, which moved to temporary quarters in Latham from the previous headquarters in St. Louis, also will move to the new building.

The facility is seeking LEED certification. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, recognizes buildings that are environmentally friendly. Rudolf said Beech-Nut will seek either certified or silver status. The scale ranges from certified to silver, gold and platinum, the highest level.

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