Customer Focus, Tech Drive Beck’s Expansion
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowBeck’s Chief Executive Officer Sonny Beck believes his company’s focus on customer relationships and technology are driving forces in building what is now the largest family-owned seed company in the nation. Last week, Beck’s announced a $62 million expansion at its Atlanta, Indiana headquarters operation, essentially doubling processing capabilities there. The investment could also mean nearly 60 new jobs over three years, jobs that Beck says are reflective of modern agriculture.
"We do a lot of our own software writing and we’ll be hiring more people for that to basically keep up with what we call our farm server, and that’s helping farmers manage the data that is on their farms," said Beck.
Beck and Indiana Economic Development Corporation President Elaine Bedel talked about the expansion and its potential impact on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
Bedel says the Beck’s expansion is the latest example of Indiana’s strength in the agbioscience sector, which she says is a $31 billion industry employing more than 100,000 Hoosiers. "It’s not the farm your grandparents had," said Bedel. "This is high-tech and there’s lots of wonderful things happening there."
Founded in 1937, Beck’s has experienced significant growth, doubling in size every six and-a-half years since 1992. It is now the number one corn and soybean brand in Indiana and the third largest brand in the United States.
Beck’s employs 661 people at four Indiana sites and facilities in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, Iowa and Hawaii. 375 of those workers are in Indiana.