Buddig & Co. meats to locate in Montgomery

Carl Buddig & Co. has announced it will be expanding its operations within Illinois with the purchase of the former Butterball plant in Montgomery.

Located at 2125 Rochester Drive just east of Orchard Road on the village's west side, the plant was operated by Butterball from 2013 until last July, when it was closed by the firm. Prior to 2013 the plant was operated by Gusto Packing.

The plant's closure left the plant's 600 employees without jobs last summer.

In a statement issued by the village Monday morning, Buddig officials announced they now plan to use the 280,000-square-foot plant to grow the firm's manufacturing footprint for lunch meats and specialty meats production.

The project will create 250 jobs within the first two years of operations and then ramp up to 350 jobs by year five, according to the statement.

“With our customers’ demand for great-tasting Buddig products, it was vital that we increase our manufacturing facilities,” said Bob Buddig, CEO of Carl Buddig & Co. “The Montgomery facility is our fourth manufacturing facility in Illinois, and we look forward to starting production there this spring.”

Karen Noble, executive vice president of human resources for Buddig, said the firm has already posted open job positions for the new Montgomery plant on the Careers page of the firm's Buddig.com website.

"We encourage anyone interested in working at the new Montgomery location to apply," Noble said.

To help entice Buddig & Co. to locate in Montgomery, Jeff Zoephel, village administrator, reported the village board has agreed to waive any permit fees associated with the company's remodeling of the plant.

Local and state officials hailed the Budding announcement.

“We have a very solid manufacturing core as well as a strong workforce here in the village of Montgomery,” said Village President Matt Brolley. “The plant has always been used for meat processing, which makes it an ideal facility for Buddig’s operations. On behalf of the Village Board and community, I want to thank Carl Buddig & Co for expanding their business into Montgomery. We are thrilled to welcome them into our community.”

“It is victories like this that happen when all parties come together and work towards a common goal,” said Illinois Department of Commerce Director Sean McCarthy. “Illinois is slowly but surely coming back. We’re beginning to see real results from investing and marketing our assets, like our world-class workforce, while fostering an environment that is supportive to businesses at all levels.”

Dan Wynn, Buddig’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “It was an easy decision to expand in Montgomery after learning about the assistance and support we would receive from the state of Illinois, the village of Montgomery, Montgomery’s Economic Development Corporation, and Kane County’s Workforce Development Division. We look forward to working with all of these agencies and bringing 250 to 300 new jobs to Montgomery over the next year.”

“Manufacturing, especially food processing, remains a staple of the Illinois economy,” said state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove. “It was essential to get this facility back in operation for the people of Montgomery, and I look forward to supporting Buddig’s success.”

“This is a great day for the village of Montgomery,” said state Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego. “An investment of this magnitude will offer not only relief for this resilient community, but tremendous opportunity in the years to come. I am thrilled to welcome Buddig into the 50th District and look forward to seeing this facility filled once again.”

Illinois was in tight competition with Indiana to win this project. Indiana had previously won Buddig’s 2013 project in a similar face-off, citing the proximity to the existing South Holland plant but with lower property taxes and affordable cost of doing business within Indiana.