South Bend Candy Company Planning $8M Expansion
A rendering of the new $8 million Claeys Candy facility (photo courtesy of Claeys Candy)
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSouth Bend-based Claeys Candy is planning to build an $8 million production facility on the city’s northwest side. The South Bend Tribune reports the company will add a second hard candy production line at the facility, which will sit on a five-acre site near the Indiana Toll Road.
The company, which makes peanut brittle, fudge, and Chocolate Charlie, saw sales take off during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re extremely excited, as you can well imagine, after a century of making candy,” said President Gregg Claeys told the South Bend Common Council this week. “It would have been great if I had a bigger building right here; I would have put the new equipment right in this building, but it literally won’t fit. It’s imperative that we do something soon.”
The council unanimously approved a first step in granting property tax abatements for the new site earlier this week.
“We’re growing and want to continue to grow, and we have to grow to be efficient and to compete in the United States, and also with the foreign companies that make candy in Mexico, Canada, China, that are coming into the United States duty-free,” said Claeys. “I’m sure we’ll be adding more new jobs in the long term.”
The publication reports Claeys has been looking for a new location for three years. The expansion is expected to result in the addition of at least three more employees.
“It’s going to be a tremendous uptick in tax revenue from this business,” said Dan Buckenmeyer, the city’s business development director. “Mr. Claeys is going to make an $8 million investment in this new plant, and hire a bunch of new people. To saddle him with a $130,000 tax bill immediately after, I would argue, wouldn’t be that responsible as a community. What the tax abatement does is phase that in, softens the blow.”
The South Bend Tribune reports the building is expected to be ready within the next two years.
You can read the full story from the South Bend Tribune by clicking here.