Former cheese plant in Hinesburg gets $5 million redevelopment

During a ribbon cutting ceremony at the site of the former Saputo cheese plant destroyed by fire in September of 2008, US Senator Patrick Leahy called Saturdayâ s grand opening of Vermont Smoke and Cure and Green Mountain Organic Creamery one of the most impressive community-led agricultural redevelopments he has witnessed in his 38 years representing Vermont in the United States Senate. The two businesses are estimated to employ more than 40 people in the near future, jobs Leahy said would not have been possible without federal job-creating programs that helped facilitate the development in Hinesburg.
â In a state filled with successful stories of agricultural reinvention, the story of the redevelopment of the Saputo site has to be one of the biggest successes in agricultural redevelopment I have witnessed in my time representing the State of Vermont,’said Leahy. â Utilizing federal programs, state programs, equity and debt, the community and their partners have attracted two businesses to town that promise to give Vermont farms opportunities to turn commodities into value added products. This means more jobs in Hinesburg, but just as importantly, more sustainable farms across the region.â
According to Vermont Smoke and Cure CEO Chris Bailey, his new 37,000 square foot facility will enable the company to make more smoked meats more efficiently, including a highly profitable line of hams that will help the company grow, potentially creating an additional 25 jobs in the coming years. Bailey says that about 15 employees from his former facility in Barre moved to the Hinesburg facility.
â This expansion will allow us to make more of our own products, to carry out processing for Vermont farmers year-round and to add new products made from meats grown by Vermont farmers,’said Bailey. â Weâ re thrilled to now operate in a modern facility.â
The owners of Green Mountain Organic Creamery, J.D. and Cheryl DeVos, said they plan to begin processing milk from their Ferrisburg farm, Kimball Brook Farm, at their new Hinesburg operation by the end of the month. They plan to hire six employees to help run the creamery, and hope to expand to cheeses, yogurt and ice cream in the coming years.
â We are really pleased to be headquartered in a building that already has a history of supporting the local working landscape,’said Cheryl DeVos. â It fits, because creating jobs for the community is an important part of our goals for the future too -- as is producing products that are good for the environment and healthy for our bodies. This past Thursday was our first production day and our bottled milk, labeled under our Kimball Brook Farm name, will start to show up in local groceries. We are thankful to all of the people who over the past four years have made our move, our new facilities, and our dream of bringing local, organic products to the entire community a reality.â
The two companies celebrate their grand openings just shy of four years after a fire shut down the Saputo cheese plant, putting about 80 people out of work. The Town of Hinesburg quickly acted to ensure the site was used in the best interest of the town and created the Hinesburg Saputo Redevelopment Steering Committee. The Committee worked with the Greater Burlington Industrial Development Corporation, local commercial real estate company Redstone, and local real estate development company Catamount-Malone to identify and cultivate business prospects that met the needs of the town.
â With their focus on value added agriculture, Vermont Smoke & Cure and Green Mountain Organic Creamery fit perfectly with the vision Hinesburg had for the former Saputo facility,’Hinesburg Town Manager Joe Colangelo said.
Leahy credited a $600,000 investment from the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fundâ s Flexible Capital Fund (Flex Fund) as being one of the final pieces of funding that helped make the Vermont Smoke & Cure move from Barre to Hinesburg possible. The Flex Fund is Vermontâ s first business-lending program focused on providing royalty financing for growth stage businesses in Vermontâ s natural resource and renewable energy sectors. With royalty financing, instead of taking a piece of ownership of the company, a lender provides debt that the company repays by sharing a piece of their revenue stream over a fixed period of time. The Flex Fund makes investments in promising Vermont-critical businesses that might have trouble attracting venture capital due to the slow investment return inherent with smaller, value-focused businesses. Leahy helped create the Flex Fund by securing a $500,000 federal grant that served as the first money into the Flex Fund, which allowed the Flex Fund to leverage nearly $2.0 million in private investment since Leahy announced the creation of the Flex Fund in May 2011.
â In every way, VSC is an ideal first investment for us,’said the Flex Fundâ s President Janice St. Onge. â They are a mission-based company, helping more than 600 farmers get their products to market ‘not only by providing smoking services but also by purchasing local meat for their own branded products. Theyâ re helping to build a strong foundation for local and regional food systems, creating new jobs with benefits, and are expanding in a community that has recently been hard-hit by job losses. Senator Leahyâ s leadership in helping the Flex Fund secure our initial capitalization was critical to our ability to get up and running quickly ‘and get flexible risk capital out the door to growing companies like VSC.â
Leahy, the most senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, heralded two federal agriculture programs that helped the two businesses move to Hinesburg ‘the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) Business and Industry Loan program and the USDA RD Value Added Producer Grant Program. Vermont Smoke and Cure received a $1.87 million loan guarantee from USDA RD that helped them secure loans to complete the $5,282,350 development. Green Mountain Organic Creamery received a $225,000 guaranteed loan through the USDA Business and Industry Loan program and a $300,000 USDA RD Value Added Producer Grant to open their Hinesburg operation.
â These grants provide the capital resources necessary for business growth and job creation,’said Molly Lambert, USDA RD State Director. â Through these investments USDA is strengthening the economic foundation of rural Vermont.â
Leahy said several other state and federal programs facilitated the new development including a $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmentâ s Community Development Block Grant program administered by the Vermont Community Development Program and loaned to the Town of Hinesburg and multiple loans from the Vermont Economic Development Authority. Private partners leveraged the federal funds with millions of dollars in additional capital, including loans from the Vermont Community Loan Fund and the Community National Bank, financing from the landlord and development company Catamount-Malone, and more than $1 million in upfront investment from both Vermont Smoke and Cure and Green Mountain Organic Creamery.
HINESBURG (Sat., May 19, 2012)