I
ncentives will be based on jobs created by the new construction
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Echo Lake Foods has reached an agreement with local officials to rebuild much of its production facility lost in a massive January fire, according to company and Racine County officials.
“Current building plans are with the state (for review) as we speak,” Jerry Warntjes, Echo Lake’s general manager and vice president, said Tuesday.
The goal of the agreement, officials said, is to return the Burlington plant, at 33102 S. Honey Lake Road, to its previous employment level of approximately 300 people or more.
Although Warntjes said in the days immediately after the fire that the company planned to rebuild here, there was some doubt in recent months and weeks as Echo Lake faced difficulties with expanding its operation in Franksville and was slapped with citations totaling $150,000 for 27 safety violations at the Burlington plant by the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
In May Warntjes said in published comments that the company was considering an incentive-laden offer from Ohio to build the egg-breaking portion of its Burlington operation there. The egg-breaking division employs about 100 people.
Warntjes said Tuesday it is “too early to say” what will happen with that portion of the operation, but he indicated that rest of the production areas destroyed by the fire and the corporate offices will be rebuilt and remain in Burlington.
County Executive Jim Ladwig, in a speech to the Burlington Rotary Club on Monday, said the agreement to rebuild was hammered out between Echo Lake Foods and the Racine County Economic Development Corporation.
The agreement, he said, is contingent on a number of factors, including the number or jobs created and the company clearing up its OSHA violations.
“We don’t just give them money (to rebuild) and then say, ‘Good luck,’” Ladwig said, noting the county wants to make sure Echo Lake Foods remains a good corporate citizen.
Both Ladwig and Warntjes confirmed all the new or rehired workers will come from Racine County or the immediate Burlington area.
While the specifics of the incentive package offered to Echo Lake were not available prior to deadline for this story, Warntjes said the assistance is tied directly to the number of jobs the rebuilt factory creates.
“It’s a start,” Warntjes said of the agreement. “But it’s probably the best well get.”
He also said his company and RCEDC were still putting the finishing touches on the package.
A timetable for rebuilding, Warntjes added, depends on how quickly state regulators approve the building plans.
He praised both Ladwig and Laura Million of RCEDC for their efforts to work with the company on a rebuilding plan.
Warntjes declined to discuss the OSHA citations issued in July, but said the company has filed a petition for review with the workplace safety agency.
Echo Lake Foods employs 450 workers companywide. In addition to Burlington and Franksville, the company operates a production and storage facility in Owensboro, Ky.
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