General Mills, a leading global food company and one of southeastern Ohio’s largest employers, announced a new project in partnership with JobsOhio and Ohio Southeast (OhioSE) that will expand their operations and bring more job opportunities to the Wellston area.
The General Mills Wellston manufacturing facility specializes in making pizza snacks for its Totino’s brand and is one of the largest frozen food manufacturing facilities in the United States.
The company will invest millions of dollars into its Wellston plant, and add jobs to reach a total of nearly 900 full-time employees at the facility. The project is focused on improving operations to be more productive and efficient, increasing overall capacity.
Totino’s originated in 1951 as a family pizza parlor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today, it’s grown to make more than 300 million party pizzas every year for pizza lovers across the nation.
Believing in the success of the project, JobsOhio and OhioSE worked together and offered a $1 million development grant toward building, machinery, equipment and infrastructure costs.
“General Mills has been a proud and active member of the Wellston community for 18 years,” said Carolyn Mendel, General Mills Wellston plant manager. “We believe we have the best employees making food the world loves and we’re grateful for the ongoing support from JobsOhio and OhioSE to expand this talent.”
Jackson County Economic Development Partnership is also supporting the project with infrastructure improvements and an enterprise zone agreement for the location’s new construction plans. Jackson County OhioMeansJobs and Area 7 Workforce Development provided significant workforce assistance to further develop and train employees.
“We are very excited to be part of General Mills’ ongoing growth and success in Jackson County,” said Sam Brady, Executive Director of the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership. “Our team could not be more proud of the local support provided by the Jackson County Commissioners and the City of Wellston to assist our project team partners at JobsOhio and OhioSE in securing new jobs and investments for our community.”
“This is a tremendous win for Jackson County. General Mills’ success in Wellston is yet another success story on the benefits of doing business in southern Ohio,” said Mike Jacoby, OhioSE President. “The new jobs and investment tied to this project will work to further ensure the long-term future of this plant.”
