alabama 13 2016

In Opelika, Ala., con-struction has begun on ameat processing plant

that officials say will create jobs and bring newopportunities to the area. In early March 2016,Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, Golden State FoodsCorp chairman and CEO Mark Wetterau and otherofficials broke ground on the $63 million, 165,000sq. ft. (15,329 sq m) facility, which will be locatedin the Northeast Opelika Industrial Park.

“Golden State Foods is a growing company,”said Wayne Morgan, corporate vice-president andpresident, Protein Products Group. “In an effort toprovide our customers the highest quality, food-safe products today and in the future, we felt nowwas the time to move forward with this new plant.It will give our liquids division room to grow in ourConyers, Ga., facility, and will give our proteindivision a modern meat processing facility withstate-of-the-art equipment to meet the needs of ourcustomers today and in the future.

“Our team has worked with our vendor partnersto make sure that our new facility is incorporatingbest practices in the areas of food safety, worker

safety and sustainability,” said Morgan. “We havegiven consideration to water, waste, energy and airin our equipment selection and building design. Wehave designed the facility for efficiency, and effi-ciency is one of the greatest tools to minimizewaste across all categories.

“Golden State Foods works with a creed andvalues that serve as guiding principles for how weconduct business,” said Morgan. “One of theunderlying tenets of these are the appreciation ofpeople, including our associates, our customersand our community. We are excited to be able to bepart of a new community and to bring value to thelives of many.”

Officials reportedly plan to have the facility upand running in the third quarter of 2017. Opelikawas selected as the site for the plant based on itsprime location along Interstate 85, its workforceand industry and its government’s willingness towork together.

“This new facility is strategically located for ourmarket. In addition, it will puts us in a position toprovide our customers with high quality, food- safe

Golden State Foods Begins Construction in Opelika

ALABAMA STATE EDITION A Supplement to:

Your Alabama Connection • Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479

see PLANT page 6

Golden State Foods Corp. photoIn early March 2016, Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, Golden State Foods Corp chairman, and CEO Mark Wetterau and other officials broke ground on the $63 million, 165,000sq. ft. (15,329 sq m) facility, which will be located in the Northeast Opelika Industrial Park.

Hudmon Construction photoIn Opelika, Ala., construction has begun on a meat processing plant thatofficials say will create jobs and bring new opportunities to the area.

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June 222016

Vol. XXIX • No. 13

By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT

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Meat Processing Plant Bringing Jobs, Opportunitiesproducts for many years to come. It will giveus the opportunity to make improvements inefficiency, while giving us flexibility toaccommodate changes in the future.

“We are excited to be a part of this projectin a growing, vibrant community that iseager to partner with business,” Morgansaid. “We believe that this facility will offermany great opportunities for the community,and it will be another great addition to theGolden State Foods family.”

Fuller told reporters, “Today is anothergreat day in the city of Opelika, as we wel-come our new partner, Golden State Foods.We know they will provide great opportuni-ties for our citizens , and be a true communi-ty partner.”

Greg Canfield, secretary of commercesaid, “Alabama’s economic developmentteam works hard every day to bring greatcompanies like Golden State Foods to ourstate, and we’ll continue to support this sig-nificant project in Opelika, to build on thepartnership we’ve developed with the com-pany.”

Wetterau said, “We are thrilled to becomea part of the Opelika community, a wonder-ful city that shares our common values. Westarted as a small meat company in LosAngeles nearly seven decades ago, and Ican’t think of a better way to celebrate our70th anniversary next year than with theopening of this meat plant in Opelika.

“We appreciate the solid partnership ofthe local civic leadership,” said Wetterau,“and we look forward to providing jobs andcommunity engagement, which is a long-term investment for us.”

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., GoldenState Foods is one of the largest diversifiedsuppliers to the quick service restaurant andretail industries. Established almost 70 yearsago, it currently services more than 125,000restaurants from 45 locations on five conti-nents. With approximately 6,000 associatesworldwide, Golden State Foods’ core busi-nesses include liquid products, meat prod-ucts, produce, dairy and distribution servic-es. It actually began business as a small meatcompany providing products to area eateriesand hotels. Teaming with the McDonald’sCorp. in the 1950s helped it become a keyplayer in the food processing and distribu-tion industries.

Work on the new facility recently began.According to Wendy Berger, president andCEO, WBS Equities LLC, “The OpelikaIndustrial Authority has roadway improve-ments, utility and wetlands mitigation workto do.”

Key tasks to be completed include grad-ing the site, which involves rock blasting anderosion control measures, extending utilitiesto the site, preparing the foundation for thebuilding pad, building temporary access

roads to the site from the roadway and exca-vation for the detention pond.

The building will be constructed of tilt-upconcrete and insulated metal panels. It willbe built to USDA Standards for food safety.

Approximately 120,000 cu. yds. (91,746cu m) of dirt/material will be moved on theproject. Some of the main materials beingused include tilt-up concrete, insulatedmetal panels, steel and concrete. The build-ing will be LEED certified, meaning a largeportion of the materials will be recycled ormade from rapidly renewable materials.

“There are very significant grade changesacross the site, so the early work isfocused on rock blasting and grad-ing,” said Berger. “No tear down wasrequired. The property is a greenfieldsite, which is part of the OpelikaIndustrial Authority’s NortheastBusiness Park in Lee County.

“The most critical elements ofthese types projects are related tofloor flatness of poured concretefloors. The floors must be poured cor-rectly, in order to properly hold up toa large amount of forklift traffic overmany years.

“We will be working with AlabamaPower to bring their service into theindustrial park for the first time, andthen onto our site. All utilities need tobe brought from the roadway to thebuilding site.”

Brandon Clifton, general manager,Hudmon Construction Company Inc. said,“We are in the very early stages of gradingright now, along with stripping topsoil.Hudmon Construction is responsible forgrading, storm drainage piping, sanitarysewer, domestic and fire water lines and ero-sion control.”

Already, weather has had a negativeimpact on construction.

“This particular soil in central Alabama isnot very moisture resistant, meaning that theslightest little bit of rain adds to the moisturepercentage when trying to achieve therequired compaction for particular areas ofthe job site. One main challenge is reachingthe optimal moisture for this particular dirt inbetween rains. We are just artists trying topaint that perfect masterpiece, and hopingwe shook all the water out of our brushes, sowe don’t have to start over if the paint startsto run,” Clifton said.

Equipment being used on the projectincludes a D8 dozer, a D6 dozer, two piecesof compaction equipment, two 500 hp trac-tors with 25 cu. yd. (19 cu m) pull behindpans and a number of excavators. Cliftonsaid the grading aspect will likely be themost time-consuming part of his crew’swork, with a significant amount of dirt tomove on the project to achieve final grade.

Hoping to complete all work early next

year, Clifton said, “We are just glad to be apart of team Clayco, the general contractor.We also thank Golden State Foods forchoosing Opelika, Alabama, to be its home.”

Lori Huguley, director of the EconomicDevelopment Department of the city ofOpelika, said, “Our office has been workingon this project since 2013. We were involvedin a multi-state search, and were glad to winthis project for the City of Opelika. GoldenState Foods plans to invest over $60 millionin building and equipment for this new meatprocessing plant, and to hire 173 associ-ates.”

Huguley said it was important to secure aplant of this nature, to demonstrateOpelika’s ability to accommodate big com-panies wanting to build in Alabama.

“The selection of Opelika as the site forthe new plant is a testament to the fact thatOpelika is open for business, and works withcompanies to provide a location and com-munity that is supportive of their project, andhas a desire for their success.”

She also stated the construction couldpave the way for future development in theregion.

“The Northeast Opelika Industrial Park isa 2,200-acre industrial park that has all utili-ty infrastructure in place. The location alongInterstate 85 and with an interstate exit that isspecifically designed for truck traffic willcontinue to aid in our ability to attract manu-facturing and distribution facilities to ourarea,” said Huguley.

“We have had very positive feedbackregarding bringing another diverse industryto the area. Anytime you can bring addition-al opportunities and diversify your industrialbase, I believe you will have excitementwithin the community. Thanks to our leader-ship, Mayor Fuller, the Opelika City Counciland the Opelika Industrial DevelopmentAuthority, we are very fortunate to lead thecity’s efforts to recruit and retain businessand industry to our area.”

According to Huguley Opelika is a very

business-friendly community. “The forethought and forward planning

that has been put into preparing the sites andinfrastructure will continue to benefit ourcommunity as we attract future business andindustry to Opelika.”

Barbara Patton, Opelika chamber of com-merce president, said seeing the buildingcome out of the ground will be rewarding forthe entire community.

“Golden State Foods brings a new indus-try sector to the city of Opelika and diversi-fies our industrial base. This is a big positivefor a city that has seen the textile mills close

down here, and all around us. It hasbeen shown that the food process-ing industry in the U.S. produces apositive economic impact, and weare looking forward to being therecipient of that here.

“Mayor Fuller and the economicdevelopment department of the city,in partnership with the state ofAlabama, did an outstanding job inrecruiting this industry here,”Patton said.“Opelika is fortunate tobe situated along the I-85 corridorbetween Montgomery and Atlanta,with Atlanta HartsfieldInternational Airport just down theroad. We are also blessed to haveSouthern Union CommunityCollege here and Auburn

University next door, and AIDT providesgreat training for the industrial manufactur-ing workforce.”

The city of Opelika, through its OpelikaIndustrial Development Authority, preparedand positioned itself early on to welcomenew industries through the creation of itsFox Run Business Park and the NortheastOpelika Industrial Park. Opelika is also thefirst gig city in the state of Alabama, whichis a plus for industries needing the internetspeed and capacity.

“So many factors go into the fact thatOpelika and the area are growing,” saidPatton. “Auburn-Opelika MSA was ranked10th for Best Performing Small Cities byMilken Institute in 2014 and 2015, whichuses job creation, wage gains and technolo-gy trends to measure this growth. In addi-tion, Southern Business and DevelopmentMagazine named the City of Opelika one ofthe Ten Smoking Hot Economies in theSouth in 2015.”

Opelika is located in north-central LeeCounty, and is bordered by Auburn to thewest. Opelika lies in the southern reaches ofthe Piedmont Plateau, and straddles thedivide between the Tallapoosa and theChattahoochee river watersheds.

(This story also can be found onConstruction Equipment Guide’s website atwww.constructionequipmentguide.com.)CEG

Hudmon Construction photoOfficials reportedly plan to have the facility up andrunning in the third quarter of 2017.

PLANT from page 1

Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • June 22, 2016 •

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