Shearer's chip plan expansion: Former Troyer Farms site near Waterford to expand

WATERFORD — Shearer's Foods, the Ohio-based company that's owned the former Troyer Farms chip plant in Waterford since 2016, needed to expand one of its 12 North American plans and add a production line for baked snacks.

The company chose the Erie County plant for the expansion, said Fritz Kohlmann, chief financial officer for the company, which has its headquarters in Massillon, Ohio.

Officials from Shearer's, joined by state Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Davin, announced Thursday in Waterford that the company plans to invest $27.5 million for new equipment and a 100,000 square-foot expansion that will expand the size of the building by about 66%.

"It's a major project for us," said Kohlmann, adding that the project is likely to take about a year to complete at a time when demand for labor and materials continues to slow construction work.

The company expects to add about 40 employees to its existing workforce of 200, but that won't likely begin until next summer, he said.

In the meantime, Shearer's, like many companies, continues to look for talented employees, Kohlmann said.

The project will get a $1.75 million assist from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital program and $135,000 in job-training credits, Davin said.

"This is a big deal for Erie County," Davin said. "We look at a number of different things when we invest in a company like this. This really hit all the right points. It's job creation, a (big) investment for the company. We are going to get tax revenue back and there are manufacturing jobs."

Kohlmann said more than one factor contributed to the company's decision to expand in Waterford.

"It was the talent of our local team and the support of the state and the county that tipped the scale," he said.

Davin, who made his first visit to the snack food plant Thursday, said he's happy to see a local tradition of snack making continue and expand.

"It's also an opportunity for (the company) to go to a place to get good quality talent and raw materials," he said, noting that many of the potatoes used at the plant are supplied by local farmers.

The Troyer family built the potato chip plant in 1967 and sold the operation to Bickel's Snack Foods Inc. in 2008. Bickel's moved production out of Waterford to its York headquarters in 2011. Shearer's bought the plant in 2016.

Contact Jim Martin at 814-870-1668 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ETNMartin.