October 21/Akron, Oh./Akron Beacon Journal -- The J.M. Smucker Co. is breaking ground for a new building this week to accommodate its large growth from its new coffee business.
The Orrville, Ohio-based company needs additional space for employees, especially after the company's purchase last year of Folgers coffee from Procter & Gamble.
The company currently has 1,231 employees at the corporate headquarters and plant. However, an additional 160 employees had to be temporarily moved to offices in Fairlawn earlier this year after the Orrville facilities ran out of room. An additional 86 positions from Cincinnati will be relocating to Orrville in 2011 as a result of the Folgers deal.
"We are proud that this campus expansion marks another major milestone in our presence in the region," said company spokeswoman Maribeth Badertscher.
The company best known for jellies and jams has become a diversified food products company in recent years. Since 2001, Smucker has acquired the brands Jif, Crisco, Pillsbury, Hungry Jack, Eagle Brand condensed milk and Europe's Best Inc., a private company headquartered in Montreal.
With that growth, the work force has grown, too.The new building, which will be completed by spring 2011, will serve as the new main lobby and building for the Smucker campus. Executive offices will be moved to the new building, but it has not yet been decided what other departments will move.
The building will be the largest on campus at four stories and 137,000 square feet. The structure will be built in an existing parking lot and connected to two existing buildings.
Company officials have had long-term plans for various parts of the campus, which is 90 acres. The new building will require that Strawberry Lane, which will remain the main entrance to the campus, will end at the new building.
The new building will house 500 employees and will include office and conference space.
A second phase to the project will be a renovation of a 2008 facility called the Renewal building. The company's cafeteria will be expanded in that building.
The company has already completed expansions to the auditorium to seat 194 instead of 108 in another building.
Like the Renewal facility, the new building, which does not yet have a name, will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating System certifications -- or its more common name, LEED.
The third-party certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (http://www.usgbc.org) is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
"Smucker has long been committed to sustainability and, just like the construction of our Renewal building completed in 2008, we have designed the latest expansion project to minimize environmental impacts and we will again pursue LEED certification," said Brian Mackey, facilities manager.
From the October 26, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition
