Fleming County officials came together on Tuesday (Sept. 16) for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Ridley Block Operations expansion.
Ridley Block Operations, which has been in Fleming County for 10 years, is a division of Ridley, Inc. and creates low-moisture livestock feed supplement blocks, according to RBO President Bob Frost.
Frost said the new nearly $8 million expansion, which is being privately funded, will "enable RBO to maintain consistent services levels during changing market conditions, such as the recent drought. It will also allow RBO to accommodate exceptional customer demands without interrupting normal delivery schedules."
According to Frost, the new expansion will allow for about 12 to 15 more employees for the company that currently employs 23 fulltime operational and office staff. However, that number is not definite and may change once operations begin.
RBO is one of eight Ridley operations in the United States and is the furthest northeastern operation, according to Frost.
Ridley Inc. Chief Executive Officer and President Steve VanRoekel said he is excited to see the expansion coming to fruition.
"We have about four major projects in the work, including this one," VanRoekel said. "In the other projects, we sometimes had to jump through a few hoops, so it was nice to see this project coming together smoothly and all the community support we've had."
VanRoekel said the currently RBO facility brought in about $20 million in sales last year and the expansion is projected to add about $10 million more in sales a year.
"Plus, you will have semi drivers coming in and out and that's people who will be eating in your town and spending money in your town," Frost said. "So, there's other ways this expansion will help the economy of Fleming County."
State Rep. Mike Denham said he was pleased to see the expansion happening.
"It's a great day for Fleming County," Denham said. "This is an opportunity to add more jobs and this is the kind of expansion we need in Fleming County. I want to thank Ridley for the work they're doing here."
The expansion is expected to be completed in October 2015.
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