Hilmar Cheese on Schedule with Phase I Construction of Texas Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). California Central Valley’s Hilmar Cheese Company (Hilmar, California) is well underway with construction of the first phase of a new $30 million cheese and whey protein processing plant being built in Dalhart, Texas. (See related December 28, 2005 article – Hilmar Cheese Selects Prime Contractor to Build $30 Million Cheese Processing Plant in the Texas Panhandle).

Hilmar Cheese had a groundbreaking ceremony on March 8, 2006, and two months later began construction on the new processing plant. The new 300,000 square-foot processing facility will be constructed in two phases. Phase I should be complete by October 2007. Phase II is scheduled to begin construction in 2008.

Hilmar Cheese awarded Western Builders of Amarillo, Incorporated (Amarillo, Texas) as the general contractor and Streets, Incorporated (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) as the mechanical contractor. Construction and assembly of the steel structure for the cold storage facility began in October 2006. Western Builders is completing construction on the walls in the cheese processing room and tiling the milk receiving areas and the floor in the ingredient vestibule. As of February 7, 2007, the outside building is approximately 95% complete and equipment installation is proceeding. Several 83-foot milk silos, which can each hold 100,000 gallons of milk, have already been installed.

The site in Dalhart, Texas was selected for numerous reasons including the proximity to existing and new East Coast and Midwest consumers. In addition, it provides access to a growing and reliable local milk supply. With that supply, Hilmar Cheese Company will be processing a capacity of around five million pounds of milk per day. This location will also be producing half of a million pounds of cheese a day. One important reason for the selection of this location was the positive local business climate, including state support for economic growth, as well as a stable regulatory environment.

Founded in 1984, Hilmar Cheese Company is family-owned and operated. The company employs more than 600 employees at the existing facility in Hilmar, California. The Dalhart facility will begin hiring 100 employees during the second quarter of this year.

View Plant Profile – 1067960
View Project Report – 01010677 01011310

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