Gorton’s Seafood planning $89M production facility in Lebanon
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Gloucester, Massachusetts-based Gorton’s Seafood plans to build a 110,000-square-foot production facility in Lebanon, where it expects to employ 163 workers by 2029, Boone County and city officials announced Tuesday.
The frozen seafood producer’s $89.3 million facility will be located at 419 S. Mt. Zion Road next to the United States Cold Storage warehouse in Lebanon Business Park.
“Lebanon is proud to welcome Gorton’s to our city,” Mayor Matt Gentry said in written remarks. “This approval signifies the attractiveness of Lebanon as a business destination and also underlines the strength of Indiana’s place in the food manufacturing and agribusiness sectors.”
Gorton’s Director of Human Resources Chelsea Cote told members of the Lebanon City Council on Monday night that the company plans to break ground on the facility in March. She said the plant will feature three seafood-processing lines with the first beginning production in September 2025.
Once production begins, Cote said Gorton’s will work closely with Camden, New Jersey-based United States Cold Storage, which is planning a $38.4 million expansion of its adjacent facility that will add 60,000 square feet and create 30 jobs. Gorton’s and USCS have partnered for more than 40 years, she said.
Council members unanimously approved a tax abatement plan that will reduce real and personal property taxes on the Gorton’s facility by 50% over the next five years.
According to abatement documents, Gorton’s plans to spend $34.6 million on construction of the facility and $54.6 million to equip it with new manufacturing, logistical distribution and information technology equipment. Total annual payroll at the facility is expected to be nearly $9.8 million.
Cote said employees will work four-day, 10-hour work schedules with salaries beginning at $26 per hour. Jobs will be available in food production, quality control, sanitation, warehousing, mechanical and electrical maintenance, and engineering.
Gorton’s currently employs about 470 people at sites in Massachusetts and Ohio, and in field sales around the U.S. and Canada. In terms of employee count, the Lebanon facility will be the company’s second-largest site, aside from its Gorton’s Seafood Plant in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which employs more than 300 workers.
The Lebanon facility’s primary production systems will include industrial microwaves, frozen fish cutting and slicing, batter and bread crumb coating, fryers, spiral freezers, auto-weighing and packaging, and auto-palletizing.
“Our investment in this new facility in Lebanon, Indiana, will allow us to continue our mission of making quality seafood accessible to everyone,” Gorton’s Seafood CEO Kurt Hogan said in written remarks. “We look forward to a strong partnership with the Lebanon community, as well as the state of Indiana, for many years to come.”
Gorton’s was founded in 1849 as John Pew & Sons. After several name changes, the company became known as The Gorton Corp. in 1965 and is now Gorton’s.
Gorton’s merged with General Mills in 1968, and was sold in 1995 to Britain-based consumer goods company Unilever PLC. The company was sold again in 2001 to its current owner, Nippon Suisan Inc., a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd.
Gorton’s introduced its most famous product, the frozen fish stick, in 1953. The company is also known for its “Man at the Wheel” company trademark featuring a fisherman in a yellow raincoat.