The Marshall County Shell Building will soon have an occupant. Bluffton-based Pretzels Inc. plans to invest $15 million to purchase and equip the 45,000 square foot facility at 2910 Commerce Street in Plymouth.
The new plant will be the second Indiana location for the pretzel and snack food private label provider. Pretzels Inc. is headquartered in Bluffton, with 350 employees there. Hiring of plant management and supervision, packagers, bakers, machine operators, quality control technicians and sanitation, maintenance and warehouse workers for the Plymouth facility will begin later this year. Operations are expected to start in early 2017. The company expects to create 65 new jobs by 2020.
The new plant will replace a facility in Pennsylvania and will be responsible for the production of peanut butter and bulk pretzel products.
Founded in 1978, Pretzels Inc. is a family-owned business headquartered in Bluffton, Indiana. The company offers pretzels in over 50 shapes, 20 sizes and 900 varieties for both store brands, private labels and its own Harvest Road products. Its fastest growing product line is peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets, which will be produced at the new Plymouth-based facility.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Pretzels Inc. up to $350,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Plymouth will consider additional incentives at the request of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation.
Mayor Mark Senter says Plymouth will see the benefits of job creation and a strengthened economy very soon thanks to a team of both state and local leaders who have come together to make this project a reality.”
Local officials cut the ribbon on the shell building in May of 2015 at the corner of Pioneer Drive and Commerce Street, just north of U.S. 30.
