Fresno’s Cargill on cusp of expansion, 300 new jobs

Published on 04/29/2014 - 4:03 pm

Written by John Lindt

John Niemann is vice president and general manager at Cargill’s Fresno beef facility.

John Niemann is vice president and general manager at Cargill’s Fresno beef facility.

A $50-million-dollar planned expansion at the Cargill Meat Solutions facility southwest of Fresno should add 300 jobs to the 1,000-person workforce already employed there.

Cargill has applied for a conditional use permit for expansion with Fresno County. A public hearing is tentatively set for May 22.

Cargill, recently referenced in a Los Angeles Times article about pollution in Fresno, said modernizing the Fresno operation will improve its environmental footprint, cutting air emissions, improving water quality and reducing odors.

Plant expansion calls for construction of a new 80,000 square-foot cold storage facility that would replace 87 diesel-powered refrigerated storage trailers at the plant.

Additional plans include adding new water wells that will replace two existing wells high in nitrates.

Changes planned at the plant will also reduce odors, said a company report, specifically in how hides are processed. A new facility will be built for the task.

Also, instead of the company selling the hides to a firm in Modesto, the hide work will be retained in Fresno, said the company. That will add $2 million to the local tax base.

Mike Martin, Cargill spokesperson, said Cargill “is not increasing animal throughput but diversifying our products to meet consumer demand.”

A county report said the plant, near North Avenue and Highway 41, has had no complaints about odors to date. The plant has farmland on one side and residential on the other.

The county is processing the environmental impact of the big project as a negative declaration, meaning there are no serous issues.

The expansion will also affect the firm’s ground beef production operation, tripling the building size from 22,400 square feet to 67,200 square feet.

Cargill is the nation’s largest privately held corporation based in Minnesota, with 2013 revenues of $136.7 billion.

John Niemann, vice president and general manager at Cargill’s Fresno facility, a year ago told The Business Journal about a number of obstacles standing in the way of the expansion. Those included number of $12,000-$15,000 traffic studies for the California Department of Transportation. In addition, the City of Fresno wanted Cargill to connect to its water system instead of drilling new wells, making that recommendation to Fresno County planners.

“We want to be very transparent about this,” Niemann said last year. “Our goal is to create jobs.”

http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/manufacturing-and-distribution/11780-fresno-s-cargill-on-cusp-of-expansion-300-new-jobs