GALESBURG, Ill. — The Galesburg City Council will soon vote on a business development project that would create more than 100 jobs in the region.
The project with Thrushwood Farms Quality Meats, Inc., a subsidiary of Western Smokehouse Partners, is projected to bring 150-180 manufacturing jobs to Galesburg and generate $50 million in investment.
"Anytime you're growing jobs rather than reducing jobs, you know the ripple effects are substantial. In this case, from what I remember in their data when they were a meat processing company, and they had a retail business, they had 11 employees in 2008. This will move them to 350-400 so that's pretty substantial," City Manager Eric Hanson said.
The agreement would bring new business into the unused portion of the former Maytag facility located on Monmouth Boulevard. Maytag left Galesburg in September of 2004.
Ken Springer, President of Knox County Area Partnership, says this agreement between the city and the meat company will increase productivity overall.
"The project we're expected to invest between $40 million-$50 million and expecting to see 150-180 new jobs," Springer said.
Public reaction in Galesburg to the potential development has been positive.
"When you're talking about new jobs in a community, those are always positive things and yeah I think the community is reacting appropriately. There's a lot of history in that old building so seeing it put to use is a great thing," Springer said.
City Council will make a final decision on the development on Monday, Oct. 7. If approved, Hanson said he expects operations to begin toward the end of 2025.