Malt-O-Meal® Opens Manufacturing Facility in Tremonton, Utah
Posted by Malt-O-Meal on January 22nd 2004 in News Archive
New plant brings clean industry, jobs, to area north of Salt Lake City
Minneapolis, MN — January 22, 2004
The Malt-O-Meal® Company today hosted a grand opening ceremony to inaugurate its third manufacturing facility. Under construction for over a year, the new plant in Tremonton, Utah, encompasses 225,000 square feet, sits on 105 acres of land, and houses state-of-the-art cereal manufacturing equipment. The plant currently has capabilities for sheeting and gun puffing, two sophisticated manufacturing processes for ready-to-eat cereal.
“This plant is key to Malt-O-Meal’s plans for growth,” said John Lettman, the company’s President, at the opening ceremonies this morning. “We are extremely grateful to the residents and city officials of Tremonton and to the state of Utah for their support and warm welcome.”
Designed to accommodate additional buildings, the site has room for up to nine manufacturing lines. The current building can house three lines and has two lines now operating. These lines are making two popular ready-to-eat cereal varieties, Golden Puffs and Toasted Cinnamon Twists. Other varieties will be added over time. At current capacity, the plant produces approximately 125,000 bags of cereal per day.
The Malt-O-Meal® plant brings new jobs to the area. “This is a big deal for Tremonton,” said the City’s Mayor, Max Weese. “We are ecstatic. Malt-O-Meal® is a good-paying company, offering excellent benefits. And it’s a clean industry. We’re glad to have them. This is a great opportunity for Tremonton City and the State of Utah.”
The company received financial incentives from the State of Utah to complete construction in Tremonton. In the form of an Industrial Assistance Fund Rural Incentive for creation of jobs exceeding 125% of the county’s median income, the incentives provide up to $2500 per position up to 250 employees within the next five years. The facility currently employs 80 full-time employees.
Plant Manager Mark Suchan said, “We’re very pleased with the caliber of our employees. The region has favorable economic conditions and a stable workforce, and we have high hopes for production in this facility.” Suchan added that Tremonton is close to Malt-O-Meal’s growing west coast markets.
“We as a city have tried to be fair and honest, and I think Malt-O-Meal® appreciates that and we in turn have been very impressed with their honesty and their being forthright with us,” said Mayor Weese. “They’re very good corporate citizens and will be good neighbors.”
The company has also made a $2.2 million investment in the community’s water treatment facility. The facility has been upgraded substantially as a cooperative effort between the city of Tremonton and Malt-O-Meal®.
Tremonton is situated in the northwest corner of the State of Utah, 70 miles north of Salt Lake City. The general contractor on the Tremonton plant was Big D Construction, Salt Lake City.
Founded in 1919, the Malt-O-Meal® Company is privately held and headquartered in the IDS Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Malt-O-Meal®, the nation’s fifth largest cereal manufacturer, supplies a full line of branded bagged cereals and private label cereals to the grocery industry. The company currently produces twenty-two different ready-to-eat cereals, three varieties of Malt-O-Meal® Hot Wheat cereal, and a full line of oatmeal products. The company currently operates two production facilities in Minnesota, and three distribution centers around the U.S.
