Weaver Popcorn Hybrids relocating to Crawfordsville
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A popcorn seed company based in the Montgomery County town of New Richmond will soon be making a short move south.
Weaver Popcorn Hybrids plans to invest $15 million to develop a new campus in Crawfordsville and create up to 14 jobs, the city announced Monday.
The company said the new location at the Crawfordsville Commerce Park will serve as its headquarters and provide expanded research and production capabilities.
Brad Thada, director of sales for Weaver Popcorn Hybrids, told Inside INdiana Business that staying in Montgomery County was a key part of the decision to move to Crawfordsville.
“There are some good opportunities in working with the city of Crawfordsville; they were very excited to have us nearby,” Thada said. “Also, our some of our production acres and farmland and that sort of thing is in the area, so [we wanted] to keep the new facility nearby.”
Weaver Popcorn Hybrids is one of three independent operating companies of Van Buren-based Weaver Popcorn Co., which was recently acquired by Florida-based AUA Private Equity Partners LLC.
Thada said Weaver Popcorn began a seed program in the 1970s, and Weaver Popcorn Hybrids was formed about five years ago as the breeding and seed production side of the business. Since that time, he said the company has seen continued sales growth, which has led to the need for expansion.
“We are kind of beyond our capacity at this point, and so [we’re] wanting to make sure that—both now and into the future as we grow our sales—we’re able to produce enough seed,” he said.
Another major part of the expansion is an investment in upgraded equipment to continue producing high-quality seeds.
The new jobs will nearly double the company’s headcount in Montgomery County and will range from $17-$72 per hour. Thada said the new facility could be operational within a year, though a specific time frame is not known.
The company plans to seek an economic development grant and tax increment financing incentives from the city, which Thada said could be approved in the coming weeks or months.
“Weaver Popcorn is an industry leader and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome their new state-of-the-art campus to Crawfordsville,” Mayor Todd Barton said in a news release. “They have an incredible history and anchoring their new research and production capabilities in this community is a perfect fit. They are a great addition to the Crawfordsville Commerce Park and I am confident the synergy created within this new campus will further solidify their success in the global market.”
Thada said the company is planning ahead for future growth, noting that there will be room for additional expansion built into the new facility.
“Over the next five to 10 years as we continue to grow, this campus will really be able to kind of expand with us. We’re really excited about that opportunity.”