US: General Mills awarded state funding to expand cereal facility

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Ohio Akron ohio

Breakfast cereal manufacturer, General Mills, is to receive a $100,000 grant from the US state of Ohio’s development agency for the costs associated with the purchase of new machinery and equipment for the company's local facility expansion project.

According to a statement on the Department’s website, the company is installing new product manufacturing lines at its Cincinnati plant with the objective of upgrading the current cereal producing operations to make the facility globally competitive.

Ohio state representative, Connie Pillich, said that the General Mills’s modernisation plan will create new, full-time jobs and retain those that had been at risk of leaving the area, with other states competing for the expansion project.

The $45 million project is expected to create 18 jobs and retain 150 positions, said the Ohio agency.

The state funding is directed at projects aimed at increasing employing opportunities in the state, with the Ohio department of development saying its goal is toattract, create, grow, and retain businesses through competitive incentives and targeted investments.”

The latest outreach grants cover s​ix Ohio businesses, which will receive more than $1.5m in economic development grants to aid economic growth.

General Mills is the sixth largest food company in the world, manufacturing and marketing branded consumer foods to more than 100 countries, while operating 38 manufacturing plants and employing 29,000 employees worldwide.

Meanwhile, another leading food player, Barry Callebaut Canada, was recently awarded a $3.1m loan from the Canadian government which it said will go towards a more flexible production line.

Specialising in the production of industrial chocolate, Barry Callebaut Canada, which sells a large amount of its output to the US, is one of Quebec's largest agri-food exporters.

The company is to invest part of the money in the installation of a system for combustion of biomass, produced from cocoa shells, which will help improve the energy efficiency of its Saint-Hyacinthe plant.

The government financial assistance was provided from the minister of state for Canada Economic Development, under the Business and Regional Growth ​programme, and will be allocated to the acquisition of equipment. The financing is available to any company so long as the relevant criteria are met.

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