Hormel Foods Corporation celebrated the grand opening of Progressive Processing LLC, its new production facility in Dubuque IA. Progressive Processing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods, is the first new production facility the company has built in more than 25 years.
Progressive Processing was built according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the US Green Building Council for environmentally sustainable construction. Hormel Foods has applied for LEED certification and expects confirmation soon. Progressive Processing is expected to be one of the first manufacturing plants—and the only refrigerated food processing facility—to be LEED-certified at any level.
This facility will use at least 25% less energy and water than a plant built to meet current building codes and industry standards and was constructed using materials with more than 36% recycled content. Hormel Foods believes it will recoup the extra cost necessary to construct the environmentally friendly facility during the first two years of operation.
The new facility at 1205 Chavenelle Court in Dubuque spans 348,000 square feet. It will cost $89 million when complete. The plant officially opened January 25, 2010, when it produced its first run of Hormel Compleats microwave meals.
Progressive Processing currently has about 90 employees. At maximum capacity, the company could employ up to 300 people. More workers will be hired based on business needs and as production lines are added. Currently, the plant is running one line of Compleats microwave meals.
The facility is led by Mark Zelle, plant manager, who began his career at Hormel Foods 30 years ago at the Beloit (WI) plant.
Progressive Processing will donate more than 14,000 Compleats microwave meals from its production to the Dubuque Food Bank during the next year.
