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Bush Brothers Shells Out $70 Million for Plant Expansion

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Rebecca Ferrar, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

Mar. 28--Less than two years after opening its modern, $100 million plant in Jefferson County's Chestnut Hill community, Bush Brothers & Co. is working on Phase II of its Tennessee bean foods operation.

Bush Brothers is investing $70 million in the project, which includes an area for product sterilization, and is scheduled to begin running Bush brands next fall.

The Jefferson County manufacturing site makes a variety of baked beans and hominy and will "build some new products, which are not fully developed yet," said Steve Harrison, vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs.

The new products are being researched and developed at Bush's headquarters, a campus on Weisgarber Road.

"The expansion will help us deal with the growth we've had," Harrison said.

Bush Brothers is working with CH2M Hill-Lockwood Green, which has a $38 million contract to oversee the engineering, procurement and construction of the Phase II expansion, said Ron Scott, CH2M Hill project director of the Bush project.

"We're in the process of setting up contracts to build certain elements of the project," Scott said. "We built phase one between 2001 and 2003. We're adding more production lines and a new sterilization addition."

The entire Chestnut Hill facility -- including new plant and existing facilities -- is 835,000 square feet. The expansion under way will add more than 40,000 square feet to that when completed this fall.

"We continue to help bring in new products," said Jim Ethier, Bush Brothers chairman, CEO and third-generation Bush family member. "We're just hitting the market with our honey-flavored baked beans. It's the latest introduction made at Chestnut Hill. We're constantly hitting the market with new products."

Bush has about a dozen different kinds of beans and is the market leader in the sale of baked and black beans.

One of its newer and most promising brands is Bush's Best Homestyle Chili.

"The chili will be made at some point at Chestnut Hill," said Tom Ferriter, Bush Brothers president and chief operating officer. "The timing we don't know yet."

The chili is designed as a convenience food for consumers who want quality without going to the trouble to make it, said Ethier.

In addition to the local expansion, Bush is undertaking a $12 million expansion at its Augusta, Wis., plant for support activities, including maintenance and shipping facilities. This expansion is due for completion in June.

Bush Brothers has exited the kraut business after selling its Shiocton, Wis., kraut plant to the Great Lakes Kraut Co. last year. Bush is still producing Southern greens, peas and hominy and more than 95 percent of its production is beans.

Ferriter said Bush makes products designed to appeal to consumers with the "quality we think people will like."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently gave food makers approval to use a dietary guidance label on their bean products touting the healthy aspects of beans, which are low in fat and cholesterol and have no trans fat.

"We're starting out with a healthy product and doing research on other flavors and food consumers are interested in," Ethier said. "It's a high protein vegetable that sticks to your ribs."

Harrison noted that Bush has been making beans for 98 years.

"This is not a new endeavor for us," he said. "This is something we've looked at and tested and it's tried and true. We have a reputation. We've got a lot of faithful consumers. We have the product and the leadership. We have the product and the employees."

CH2M Hill said it has added about 20 people for short-term jobs to assist with the Bush project.

Bush, however, doesn't expect to hire any significant numbers of employees as part of the expansion.

CH2M Hill will use a number of local subcontractors on the Bush project, including Broadway Electric, Blalock and Sons of Sevierville, Metromont of Laverne, Tenn., Precision Millwright of Knoxville, Roof Craft Systems of Loudon, S&ME Inc.'s office in Louisville, Tenn., Shoffner Mechanical of Knoxville and Wayne Brothers of Davidson, N.C.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

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Source: The Knoxville News-Sentinel

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