A major Paw Paw grower will expand production facilities there and hire more than 50 new employees in the coming months as they continue exponential growth in Michigan's Great Southwest. They'll have the backing and financial support of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to do so.
Spiech Farms, a multi-generation grower in three states will invest more than $1-million for a new product line featuring frozen produce in what has become a signature stand-up pouch packaging plan for distribution nationwide. The new line will result in 55 new jobs at the Paw Paw plant where they pack and ship the grapes, asparagus, lettuce and blueberries that they grow in Van Buren County.
Spiech will get $220,000 of the funding for the project from the Michigan Strategic Fund under the auspices of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation through a performance-based business development grant.
Spiech has been growing fresh and quality produce for generations, combining the knowledge of their founders with the new technologies of current day farming to evolve into a nationwide supplier of produce to American family tables. Spiech currently grows their crops on hundreds of acres not only in the rolling hills of Southwest Michigan, but also on farms in Florida and Georgia.
In recent years they have purchased 400 acres of land in Brunswick, Georgia, including 135 acres of blueberries. They have also begun packing Michigan Table Grapes in stand-up pouches for a new look on store shelves, and re-tooled their asparagus packing process delivering a 30-percent increase in output, allowing the end product to be much fresher during the peak of the harvest.
Spiech Farms also operates a 20,000 square foot temperature controlled packing shed and re-distribution facility in Brooksville, Florida, similar to a 10,000 square foot facility in Baxley, Georgia.
In 2011 the company ranked 31st on the Inc 5000 list of the Fastest Growing Food & Beverage Companies in America.
On a sidebar note, the Michigan Strategic Fund also granted $750,000 to Kent Quality Foods based in Grand Rapids, makers of specialty meats. That company is investing some $35-million to expand into a new facility in Jamestown Township of Ottawa County. That expansion project is targeted to create nearly 140 jobs in Michigan.
