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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

General Mills Might Expand

By Dan McKay
Journal Staff Writer
       Albuquerque is closing in on $100 million in good-tasting news.
    Mayor Martin Chávez announced late Tuesday that General Mills is working to expand its local plant by 165,000 square feet and hire about 60 more employees. It would be a $100 million project altogether.
    The company plans to apply for industrial revenue bonds — a deal that would provide property-tax breaks.
    "I guess I'm pushing cereal," Chávez said, joking during his State of the City address at Alamosa Community Center. "Eat a lot of it, or whatever else General Mills makes, because it's being made here in Albuquerque."
    The company employs about 190 people at a cereal-making plant near Paseo del Norte and Jefferson. The expansion of the plant would allow it to start making snacks there, too, such as granola bars.
    General Mills intends to seek City Council approval of an industrial revenue bond deal in December or January, said Deirdre Firth, Albuquerque's economic development manager. The expansion is contingent on industrial revenue bonds, officials said.
    If all goes well, construction could begin in March.
    The proposed deal comes amid tough economic times. City Hall has seen a 2.2 percent drop in the economic activity that drives sales-tax revenue, and the city is preparing for even worse.
    The expansion would create new jobs for manufacturing technicians and others. The average salary is expected to be $40,000 a year, plus benefits. Hiring could begin late next year.
    Keith Bone, the General Mills plant manager in Albuquerque, said company policy prohibits him from saying exactly what snacks would be produced locally. But he said the company makes granola bars, fiber bars and fruit snacks, among other products.
    The company considered six or seven other locations. But the quality of the local work force "made the company want to invest" in Albuquerque, Bone said.
    General Mills opened operations here in 1991. The company's board still has to sign off on the expansion, Bone said.
    Chávez said the company "has been a great corporate citizen."
    He made the expansion announcement in front of about 350 people at the Alamosa center on the West Side. The crowd included city and state employees; several elected officials, including some city councilors and state lawmakers; and neighborhood leaders.
    His mom, Sara, who's 90, was on stage with him.
    Chávez said public safety will remain his top priority, the city will close its budget gap without layoffs, and he hopes voters will approve a Downtown event center and hotel complex. He also said the city is working with Sandia National Laboratories to crack down on "cyber stalking."
    It was Chávez's last State of the City address before the mayoral election in October. He wouldn't say whether he will seek re-election, but he pointed out that New Mexico could have a new governor if Bill Richardson is tapped for duty in Washington, D.C.
    Chávez, a Democrat, is in his third term as mayor.