Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, sixth from left, with others at the groundbreaking ceremony for Heartland Produce at the former Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha on July 15 | Facebook/Heartland Produce
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, sixth from left, with others at the groundbreaking ceremony for Heartland Produce at the former Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha on July 15 | Facebook/Heartland Produce
Heartland Produce's new headquarters in the Greenway Development, on the former Dairyland Greyhound Park site, in Kenosha is a good fit for the company, Heartland Produce President William Dietz said in a recent social media post.
"It's going to give us the opportunity to serve our customers better, to expand our product line and keep consumers in Wisconsin eating good, healthy, produce every day," Dietz said in a July 17 post on the company's Facebook page.
Heartland Produce is a third-generation, family-owned business that supplies fresh produce to retailers and foodservice distributors, according to a news release issued by the governor's office on July 15. Heartland Produce's new $29 million headquarters is the first tenant of the Greenway Development, which is expected to eventually include retail, industrial, commercial and multi-family housing tenants.
Heartland Produce also received about $500,000 in tax credits over the next three years from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), according to a news release issued by the governor's office the same day as the ground breaking.
Dietz, who has spent 45 years in the wholesale produce industry and was named to the World Food Program USA Board of Directors earlier this month, joined Gov. Tony Evers two days prior to his Facebook post for the new headquarters groundbreaking ceremony.
"Businesses and investments in our state – like Heartland Produce – are critical to ensuring our continued economic recovery," Evers said in a Twitter post the same day.
WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes and Kenosha-area officials also participated in the groundbreaking ceremonies.
"This project is so exciting because it will not only create 40 family-supporting jobs but it will act as an anchor for a new business park and neighborhood," Hughes said in the news release. "With Interstate 94 running right by the site and the Kenosha Regional Airport nearby, the site is ideal for all kinds of business development."
Headquarters' construction is expected to include a 205,000-square-foot state-of-the-art produce distribution facility, built with an eye toward future expansion, in addition to room to create fruit and vegetable ripening rooms to increase production.
The company also plans to create 40 full-time jobs that pay average wages of $28 per hour.
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