By Sharon Hanks
Request Foods' growing appetite for new business means new construction that will likely result in the hiring of 125 new workers next year.
The Holland Township company that prepares frozen entrees, side dishes and specialty items hopes to break ground this summer on a 200,000-square-foot addition north of its existing plant on John F. Donnelly Drive and a new wastewater pre-treatment facility. The development will help accommodate its growth that has heated up from annual sales of $180,000 million in fiscal 2009 to estimated annual revenues of $240,000 million in fiscal 2010.
"We have to expand our facilities," says Mark Zinc, Request Foods manager of people services.
With the recession, Zinc says families that once dined out are now cutting their food budgets by turning to more affordable home cooked meals and convenient frozen heat-and-serve food items. "We're definitely gearing up for a new adventure," he says.
Request Foods is seeking approvals from several state agencies for a 12-year tax abatement that's already been given the go-ahead by the Holland Township Board.
Zinc says that once construction is complete next spring, the frozen food manufacturer will initially hire 100 to 125 workers, with expectations of bringing on board at least another 125 by 2016.
Since last July, Request Foods has hired more than 140 fulltime employees, most in production, to mostly accommodate the demand of a customer contract awarded to them in October 2008, Zinc says.
The private company now employees 540 fulltime workers and makes nearly 800 different custom frozen entrees, side dishes, appetizers, sauces, desserts and soups.
Sources: Mark Zinc, Request Foods' manager of people services, Holland Township
Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.
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