leprino
Even the cheese is local. It turns out there’s a pretty good chance that the best part of your pizza came from right here in Greeley. That’s because the world’s largest producer of delicious, melty, mozzarella cheese is located right here in town – in a cutting-edge facility where 430 people turn 100 semi-truck loads of milk into over 500,000 pounds of mozzarella every single day. It was only eight years ago that Leprino Foods bought the abandoned Great Western Sugar factory just east of Highway 85, one of several sugar beet plants scattered throughout northeastern Colorado. The move enabled Greeley to overcome the environmental challenges inherent to 100 years of sugar-beet processing – challenges that are too often barriers to successful economic redevelopment. Today, plans are in place to begin construction on the third phase of the cheese and whey product facility, which will add another 120 jobs. And because the entire production supply chain is localized, the city’s partnership with Leprino Foods will continue to provide economic benefits for decades to come: an estimated $325 million for the city, $4.8 billion for the county and $10.1 billion statewide over the next 20 years according to Greeley’s assistant city manager Becky Safarik. Meanwhile, thanks in part to Leprino Foods, Weld County led the entire nation in job growth for two consecutive years. Job growth, long-term economic benefits, mozzarella cheese: for Greeley, that’s a win-win…win.
Agriculture – An Economic Powerhouse
Leprino Foods relies on local dairy farmers to deliver a steady supply of milk. So the company built its latest mozzarella and whey plant in Greeley in part because Northern Colorado, one of the top agricultural regions in the country, has a long history of dairy farming. In addition to employment within the plant itself – which will soon reach 550 – their partnerships with area farmers create indirect economic benefits: new dairies and expansion of existing farms, dairy support jobs, and new business development in the areas of agricultural products and services. The company’s Phase 3 plant expansion, set to start in 2016 with an initial investment of $190 million, will add over 200,000 square feet of working space to the existing facility.
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