Kulongoski hails White City groundbreaking of organic food plant

WHITE CITY — The first locally produced Amy’s Kitchen pizza and soup products are nearly a year away, but politicians and business leaders were in a celebratory mood Friday morning.

A few days after earthmovers began reshaping a cow pasture in the Whetstone Industrial Park, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Berliner family officially turned ceremonial soil where Amy’s new production plant will emerge in the months ahead.

Kulongoski called the groundbreaking "a new beginning for this region and for this company."

The Santa Rosa, Calif., organic frozen food manufacturer will spend between $35 million and $40 million to build a 165,000-square foot plant that will employ 250 workers at the start.

"Amy’s Kitchen is a great victory for the Rogue Valley," Kulongoski said. "This company is exactly the kind we want to recruit and retain in Oregon. It’s a tremendous fit, because a lot of the company’s suppliers are from Oregon."

Advertisement

More than the jobs that will be created, the entire region will benefit because Amy’s Kitchen looks to local farmers for produce and other ingredients for their products."

More than 100 looked on as the governor lauded Andy and Rachel Berliner and their daughter, Amy, for whom the company was named.

"The most important thing," Kulongoski said, "is that you share Oregon’s commitment to our environment in creating sustainable communities and industries that will deliver success today with respect to preserving our quality of life for the future."

Even though it was little more than a photo-op for Kulongoski, symbolically, he was tossing a shovel of dirt into his California counterpart’s face. Golden State Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied intensely to keep the Berliners from expanding outside California. But the deal — helped along by Kulongoski’s staff — was cemented in December when the city of Medford sold the 50-acre parcel to the Berliners’ real estate division for $350,000.

Amy’s massive investment in what was once known as Agate Flats and later became the county dump following World War II, is a stark contrast to the company’s humble beginnings in a Petaluma, Calif., dairy barn financed by Andy Berliner’s "hocked car and hocked gold watch."

The company, formed in 1987, now produces and packs 130 products, making it the largest maker of natural and organic frozen meals and soups in the country, perhaps the world.

The company now employs 850 people and its sales for the coming fiscal year are expected to exceed $150 million. Sales have risen more than 20 percent a year. Once the Rogue Valley plant is up and running, even more growth is anticipated.

Human Resources Director Cindy Gillespie said wages will be comparable to those paid to Santa Rosa workers.

"We’ll have entry-level jobs all the way to more skilled workers in the $20 range," Gillespie said.

Entry-level positions will pay between $9 and $12

"Our turnover rate is average for our industry," Gillespie said. "We like to keep people once we’ve trained them. We have some highly-trained cooks and people in those positions have been with the company four to five years. Of course we have some people who have been with us from the beginning."

Amy’s owners tightened belts to finish deal for project costs

There was just one problem, a common one these days — sticker shock.

"We kind of went into shock when the cost estimate came in for the original project a few weeks ago," admitted Andy Berliner, co-founder and president of Amy’s Kitchen. "We tightened our belts a little, but basically we’re in the same foot print."

Amy’s Kitchen will start with a 165,000-square-foot building in the northeastern corner — close to the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad tracks — of the 50-acre parcel that the company bought from the city of Medford.

"Ultimately, there will be two buildings, one of them that’s expandable," Berliner said.

The frozen organic food maker is "focusing on creating jobs rather than a fancy building," said company controller Andy Kopral. "We were a little over-reaching with our creative efforts. We went back to the basics and cut back a little on the artistic design a bit."

The company still intends for its employee lunch area to face the Table Rocks, but it may look more like a production plant than it was first intended.

"We’ve gone back to the drawing board and are focusing on a nice facility for our employees," Kopral said. "Our (construction) budget is $20 million, not including equipment. It’ll be up to $35 to $40 million when we put the equipment in."

Amy’s Kitchen hopes to see a building going up in October with a completed product early next summer.

"We’re wrestling with the internal part of the plant, what’s most efficient for the plant and infrastructure," Kopral said. "Our team is very flexible. We can move quickly, but we’re not afraid to reverse decisions."

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.