Breaking ground … Construction of cheese factory begins in Idaho

What many nay-sayers considered a pipe dream became a reality Monday as construction began at the Burley-Heyburn Industrial Park.

Crews from Burley-based Hoffbuhr Excavating Co. started tearing up an old foundation at the former J.R. Simplot Co. processing plant in Heyburn to make way for a roughly $20 million cheese factory being built by Logan, Utah-based Gossner Foods.

By Chip Thompson
Times-News writer

http://www.magicvalley.com/news/business/index.asp?StoryID=6597

"We want to be up and running by this time next year," Gossner’s chief executive, Dolores Wheeler, said following a brief ceremony to announce the commencement of construction.

The factory will produce Swiss cheese, which takes about 60 days to produce. Wheeler said the company needs to start shipping finished cheese by the end of 2005. The company is hoping for good weather so that construction can proceed quickly, she said.

Demolition is expected to continue throughout the week and construction of the new structure should follow next week, said Todd Lundahl, president of Logan-based Lundahl Building Systems. Lundahl’s company has been contracted to build the factory.

Lundahl estimates the steel framework will be in place by December, and the cheesemaking equipment is due to be delivered for installation in April.

"That’s when this place will be like an anthill," Lundahl said.

Lundahl said he expects to hire as many local workers as possible for the construction. In addition to those jobs, the plant is expected to employ as many as 40 full-time workers, Gossner officials have said.

Lundahl said he has worked for Gossner on several projects and said he likes the way the company does business. As a family owned and operated company, it doesn’t have "the big corporate attitude," he said.

"The community is landing a great company in Gossner," Lundahl said.

Monday’s groundbreaking came about two months after a lease was signed between Gossner and The Boyer Company, which has taken over management of the property on behalf of Burley.

In the interim, Lundahl has worked with city officials and engineers to map out utilities and finalize plans for the factory prior to commencing with construction.

Brian Tibbets, Burley’s community development specialist, said Gossner wasn’t interested in a "golden shovel" groundbreaking. They wanted the ceremony to signal the beginning of actual construction, he said.

City officials had received numerous calls from citizens predicting the Gossner factory would never materialize, Tibbets said. He said he hopes Monday’s ceremony will quiet those pessimists.

Lundahl said some issues arose during the planning and engineering stages, such as the presence of asbestos in one building that needs to be removed before the structure can be demolished. But no issues have caused significant delays, he said.

"When you’re working on a site that’s been occupied for such a long time, you never know what you’re going to be digging up," Lundahl said.

The Burley City Council voted last week to pay up to $100,000 for asbestos removal from the building, Burley Mayor Jon Anderson said. Gossner obtained an estimate of as much as $120,000 for the work, which they hope to have completed within two months, but the city is currently looking for the best deal, he said.

Any cost beyond the $100,000 pledged will be negotiated with Boyer, Anderson said, and Gossner has agreed to front the cost of the removal for the city. The funds are expected to be repaid through reduced lease payments from Gossner rather than cash payments from the city, he said.

"Everything’s being worked out as we go, but there have been no major snags," Tibbets said.

Times-News reporter Chip Thompson can be reached at the newspaper’s Mini-Cassia bureau at 677-4042, Ext. 638, or by e-mail at [email protected].

NEWSTRACKER:

Last we knew: Utah-based Gossner Foods announced plans Aug. 11 to build a roughly $20 million cheese factory at the former J.R. Simplot Co. processing plant in Heyburn.

The latest: Gossner’s contractor, Lundahl Building Systems, began demolition work and construction Monday.
What’s next: Gossner’s chief executive, Dolores Wheeler, said she expects the new plant to begin operating by October 2005.

On the fast track

A timeline of the Burley-Heyburn Industrial Park

* March 11: Planned donation of the former J.R. Simplot Co. processing facility in Heyburn to the city of Burley is announced.

* July 30: The facility is officially donated to the city of Burley.

* Aug. 11: Logan, Utah-based Gossner Foods announces plans to build a cheese factory on 15 acres at the site.

* Aug. 19: The entire facility is turned over to Salt Lake City-based developer The Boyer Company under a 40-year lease. Boyer and Gossner sign a lease for 15 acres within a few days.

* Oct. 25: Gossner begins construction of the factory, which is expected to be completed within a year.