Cherry Republic's plans to consolidate food production in N. Michigan
The motto speaks to the type of business and to the company’s priorities in building the factory in Northern Michigan, said Todd Ciolek, Cherry Republic’s chief operating officer. Both Ciolek and owner Bob Sutherland are from Leelanau County originally.
“If that wasn’t our motto, we’d be building our facility in a large city,” Ciolek said. “In a lot of ways, going to a bigger town makes sense for our bottom line, but people who know our company know we’re about more than our bottom line.”
The project, estimated at about $1 million, will consolidate the company’s food production in a new, about 14,000-square-foot facility, said Ciolek.
The cost includes the current land used, the current warehouse and the land for the new building, all which the company acquired in the last 18 months, Ciolek said. The company also is working toward LEED certification.
Ciolek said they want to complete the entire project in about nine months. This includes moving production from the Glen Arbor café and the Empire distribution centre, and closing the company’s current bakery and the canning facility, which handles goods including salsas, barbecue sauce, jam and jelly.
No employees will lose their jobs to the switch, and the company hopes to add about 10 year-round positions, Ciolek said. The company typically employs about 225 people at any one time, but can see up to 400 each year due to the seasonal nature of the business.
The process for choosing a location for the facility began about four or five years ago, said Andrew Moore, Cherry Republic's marketing specialist. Ciolek said the idea arose in 2008 but was stifled by the national economic struggles of the time.
With the project finally underway, Moore said the entire company is excited for the future. Besides the new facility, the company recently developed a new logo and is working to redesign its website, he said.
Source: mlive.com
