WHITE CITY — Amy's Kitchen began cranking out frozen pizza several days ago.

Today, public officials and the media get a closer look at what economic development practitioners have wrought in the once fallow Whetstone Industrial Park.

It was nearly two years ago that Santa Rosa, Calif., organic frozen foods manufacturer Amy's Kitchen purchased 50 acres — including wetlands and a former county dump — en route to the 19-year-old company's first expansion beyond its initial industrial footprint.

Bringing Amy's Kitchen to the Rogue Valley was a feather in the cap of Oregon economic recruiters hoping to attract clean industry from their southern neighbor. It is also perceived as a harbinger of things to come as the Rogue Valley continues to seek employment opportunities for those whose primary expectations were once in wood products.

Then there are organic growers, here and throughout Oregon, who now have a far more convenient end-user for their raw and processed products.

Advertisement

"I think we made this area more attractive to Amy's," says Karla Chambers of Stahlbush Island Farm, a Corvallis-based enterprise with 4,500 acres in production, including several hundred in the Rogue Valley. "You've got the farmer community and the natural resources base here and we're growing what they want. The question is what other California businesses would do well in our environment. We're looking for good companies that want to be in Oregon."

Stahlbush is at the forefront of the certified and sustainable organic movement and has been an Amy's Kitchen supplier for a decade. This is the third year the company has harvested some of its 250 crops in the Rogue Valley.

"I think it's possible other (food manufacturers) will follow, bringing certain types of entities that it naturally attracts to support them," Chambers says. "I think we should be looking for them because it's a clean type of business."

Bruce Laird, a state regional economic development officer, says the potential clustering of food producers has created enthusiasm among those who ply his trade.

"Basic manufacturing brings money into the economy with a higher multiplier than the money a retailer can exchange for goods and services," Laird says.

The $40 million or so spent to build and outfit the 176,000-square-foot complex is and will continue to be a boon as well.

"This has been a hoot of a project," says Tom Hall, president of S&B James Construction Co., whose own offices are about a mile away. "It's been a blast, very difficult and demanding because of the time and scope of the project."

Hall managed to hit the target date to allow Amy's to get up and running this month.

"When we targeted the mid-October start-up date earlier this year, we still had a tremendous amount of design work that had to happen," Hall says. "Friday they made pizza, put it in boxes and put it up for sale."

Because production was the prime mover, local managers and officer personnel will have to rough it a little longer in temporary quarters.

"We won't be done with that until next month," Hall says.

The marketplace and working conditions will determine how fast the present plant is expanded.

Amy's Kitchen's owners have kept a low profile prior to today's media presentation.

"They picked this site so they can ship via railroad to the East Coast," Hall says. "They have room for a lot of production growth. They bought a huge site and we could triple the size of the existing building."

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and others will take a tour of the facility this morning.

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com.