Glanbia to expand into Idaho

Glanbia Foods, the US subsidiary of Irish Glanbia, plans to invest $15m in the construction of a corporate headquarters and innovation centre in Twin Falls, Idaho, US.

The three-story 35,000ft² office building and the 14,000ft² innovation centre are expected to open in March 2013, initially creating 100 jobs and an additional 50 jobs in the near future. The innovation centre, which will concentrate on the cheese division, will rely on customer feedback to research new product ideas, particularly for the export market.

Chief executive Jeff Williams said the development was crucial to the expansion of the firm. "As we have grown and needs in the cheese market have changed, it was essential to ensure our team is located under one roof, and that we meet our customer and marketplace requirements," Williams said.

Glanbia will take the property on lease from Twin Falls-based development company Uptown Developer, which will also construct the project. The property for the project, which is currently owned by the Twin Falls Urban Renewal Agency, will be sold to the development company in three months. The Agency will also provide nearly $800,000 in improvements to the site, as a part of its $1.5m budget for downtown improvements for fiscal 2012.

Twin Falls has been successful in attracting major businesses to the area: last year, US dairy company Agro Farma announced its plans to open a $100m Chobani brand yoghurt manufacturing plant.

Glanbia Foods, based in Idaho, operates facilities in Twin Falls, Gooding, Richfield and Clovis, and is the world’s leading producer of American-style cheese, exporting more than 830Mlbs of cheese annually to around 30 countries.