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Blount Seafood moving in - September 14, 2004FALL RIVER With less than two weeks remaining until completion of its new 60,000-square-foot facility in Fall River, Blount Seafood Corp. of Warren, R.I., is wasting little time.According to President Todd Blount, the company is moving its complete soup production line to the new facility in Fall River’s Industrial Park. This action will result in the ultimate creation of an estimated 100 new jobs in the city. Blount said that many current workers in Warren will transfer to the Fall River plant and that the company expects to hire 6 to 12 new workers over the next few months. Eventually, he said, 65 to 100 new positions are projected to be added in Fall River within the next five years. "We wanted to come to Fall River for a variety of reasons. One was its locality with (Interstate) 195, and another was that we wanted to be in an industrial park," said Blount. "We come from a small town in Warren. We wanted to have significant access to water and electrical services and we wanted a space that was closer to employees, many who come from the Fall River area." The Blount Seafood soup line is sold as both hot-to-go and cold-to-go products under its own label at Sam’s Club operations and under Shaw’s Supermarkets’ name brand as well. A total of 65 varieties of soups is marketed by the company, including clam chowder, lobster bisque, Chilean mussels, beef chili, breaded shrimp and other meat and seafood soups. Blount Seafood also supplies soups to national distributors, including Campbell Soup Co., Sysco and Olive Garden restaurants. In addition to the soup line, Blount Seafood will produce crab cakes and hot dips with flavors such as artichoke, crab and shrimp at its new Fall River facility. Blount credited a city agency with providing the vital impetus to opening the new facility. "The Fall River Office of Economic Development, especially Joe Raposo, helped us a great deal along the way, providing a road map for us as well as numerous contacts," said Blount. Blount stressed that location was an important concern for the company. "The Fall River Industrial Park fits our company’s niche," he said. "It’s a manufacturing park more than it is an office park." Blount said that both the Warren and Fall River plants will share duties for approximately eight weeks until the latter becomes fully operational. The new plant will need to comply with state and federal inspections and Blount projected final approval to be secured next month. A grand opening event for the Fall River facility will be held Tuesday, Nov. 9. Blount Seafood’s plant in Warren, which has operated for 58 years, will continue to function as a shellfish processing facility. Blount said that the company plans to construct a distribution center in Fall River, as well as a retail store within the next year in order to "help get their product in the community." "We built this site up with the thought of eventual expansion. We will eventually be able to expand up to four times our current size pretty comfortably," said Blount. "We like the business clientele (in Fall River) and there are good, qualified people in this area." Established in 1880 and incorporated in 1946, Blount Seafood also operates a small production facility in New Bedford, and participates in joint production operations in Iceland, Chile, India, New Zealand and Canada. "We’re planning to have our research and development base at the Fall River site as well as the new soup production," said Blount. "We will be bringing in a lot of national chains to the new Fall River site so that they may come and develop recipes into a repeatable format for us to produce. "This site will be a showplace for culinary and technology." According to FROED Executive Vice President Kenneth Fiola Jr., Blount Seafood will ultimately invest $10 million in Fall River. That estimate includes real estate purchases, building expansion, machinery and equipment. "This type of company is a great asset to the city of Fall River," said Fiola. "It helps create jobs and diversify our industry base in a sector that many perceive to be recession proof." Jay Pateakos may be reached at jpateakos @heraldnews.com. ©The Herald News 2004 |