DAVENPORT, Iowa — A Wisconsin food company is one step closer to bringing bacon to Davenport.
Fair Oaks Foods is building a $134 million bacon factory on Enterprise Way just nearby the Kraft Heinz facility.
On Sep. 1, the company broke ground at its new location and celebrated with leaders from the Quad Cities Chamber and the city of Davenport.
Family and community are important to the company's CEO Michael Thompson.
"There's a lot that has to come together to make a site like this work," Thompson said. "It's not only the land, but the community. Bottom line, I believe this area matches our values."
While inflation and supply chain issues are a concern, the company wants to move ahead.
"The need for more manufacturing and food increases every day," Fair Oaks Foods COO Joseph Freda said. "Part of our mission is to feed the world with great-tasting protein, and we just feel like that's what we need to stick to."
Freda added that Davenport was chosen out of 127 candidate locations across the U.S. because of the readiness of the land, energy needs and community support.
The business is expected to create 247 jobs, and the facility will be over 150,000 square feet large.
Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said he welcomes the growth.
"As you look around here, a few years ago all these buildings - Amazon, Sterilite, Kraft, et cetera - nothing," he said. "So we believe it's very important to provide an atmosphere that business is welcome."
Mayor Matson added that, with the addition of the Fair Oaks production facility, industrial space in that area is filling up fast.
He said the City of Davenport is looking to expand further west, near the I-280 and I-80 interchange.
Fair Oaks Foods plans to open the facility in early 2024, and expects the development to have an annual economic impact of $182 million.
The company is based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin (about 1 hour and 20 minutes north of Chicago). It is a family-owned company that produces bacon, meatball, sausages and other meat products that are sold to food service, national grocery stores and quick service restaurants.
The Davenport facility is their first expansion outside of Pleasant Prairie.