Construction continues on the plant expansion and renovation project at Granny's Poultry in Blumenort.

Chief Executive Officer Craig Evans says six years ago they first started dreaming about this expansion. It is a near $37 million project that will see Granny's add nearly 30,000 square feet to the plant and renovate an additional 10,000 square feet. Evans says this will improve efficiencies and increase capacity in both turkey and chicken processing.

Evans says when the new plant opens later this year, it will be operating with state of the art processing equipment, including new evisceration, grading and sizing equipment, new cutting and cryovac lines, a new water chiller and Western Canada's only variable retention time freezer.

Evans says the impact of this upgrade means improvements will be immediately noticed in production efficiency, product quality, food safety and employee working conditions, while reducing water and energy usage.

Construction started in September and the project is expected to be complete by early June. Work has been done while the plant continues to operate.

"This is the biggest capital investment that Granny's has made in its history," notes Evans.

The company has been around for fifty years.

The project will be funded primarily through borrowings using member equity as collateral. As well, the provincial and federal governments announced Tuesday a $2.5 million grant through the Growing Forward 2 program.

The Blumenort location currently employs about 400 people. Evans says through attrition and efficiencies, this expansion might actually result in a slight reduction in employee numbers. However, he says their overall payroll will actually increase because there will be more skilled jobs at the facility. The expanded facility will provide an opportunity for up to 148 employees to upgrade their skills over the next two years through new training. Evans says Granny's will be investing $150,000 in employee training.

In total, adding greater capacity and efficiency while lowering expenditures and energy costs is expected to save Granny's up to $5 million annually.

Once construction is complete, the plant will be nearly 200,000 square feet in size. Granny's Poultry currently represents 188 producer-member owners who supply the company with hatching eggs, chickens and turkeys. The company is the sole processor of turkeys in the province.