Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to Open Manufacturing Facility in Virginia
WATERBURY, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in
specialty coffee and coffeemakers, today announced it has chosen Isle of
Wight County, Virginia as the future home of a new manufacturing and
distribution facility. The Company has agreed to purchase a 330,000
square foot building on a 64 acre parcel of land in Isle of Wight
County, Virginia for $15 million, with plans to invest up to $180
million over the initial five years of the facility's operations.
Pending completion of its due diligence and finalization of incentive
award agreements with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Isle of Wight
County, GMCR expects to consummate the purchase in December 2011.
The Isle of Wight production facility will house coffee roasting,
grinding, flavoring and packaging for GMCR's Specialty Coffee business
unit. Within five years, it's estimated the new facility will have as
many as 800 employees. GMCR has actively started to recruit for the new
facility with commencement of site fit-up work planned for December
2011, pending final site due diligence.
"As our business continues to see steady growth, supported by the
addition of new mass-appeal brands to the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing
System, ensuring expanded portion pack production capacity is essential
to our success," said Scott McCreary, president of the Specialty Coffee
business unit at GMCR. "Isle of Wight County offers a diverse and
talented employee base as well as a multitude of geographic and economic
benefits, making it a great location for our new facility."
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Isle of Wight
County to secure the project for Virginia. The Hampton Roads Economic
Development Alliance was instrumental in the project. Governor Bob
McDonnell approved a $4 million grant from the Governor's Opportunity
Fund to assist Isle of Wight County with the project. GMCR may be
eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone
Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and
Community Development. In addition through its Virginia Jobs Investment
Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide
funding and services to support GMCR's recruitment and training
activities.
"The Commonwealth of Virginia's appealing business incentives and the
workforce potential of Isle of Wight County's robust local communities
were critical factors in our new site selection," said Jon Wettstein,
vice president, supply chain operations of GMCR's Specialty Coffee
business unit. "We are extremely thankful for the support and
cooperation we have received from local, county and state officials to
make this new site a reality, and look forward to ongoing collaboration
among those constituents as we finalize the project details."
GMCR currently operates production and distribution facilities in
Castroville, California; Knoxville, Tennessee; Essex, Waterbury and
Williston, Vermont; Sumner, Washington; Toronto, Ontario; and, Montreal,
Quebec. The Company also conducts research and development activities in
facilities in Reading, Wakefield and Woburn, Massachusetts; and in
Waterbury, Vermont. The Company recently announced a substantial
expansion to its facility in Essex, and expects to add a second new
production and distribution facility in the U.S. in addition to the new
site in Isle of Wight County during its current fiscal 2012.
About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
As a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, Green Mountain Coffee
Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), is recognized for its award-winning
coffees, innovative Keurig Single-Cup brewing technology, and socially
responsible business practices. GMCR supports local and global
communities by offsetting 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions,
investing in sustainably-grown coffee, and donating at least five
percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects.
GMCR routinely posts information that may be of importance to investors
in the Investor Relations section of its website, including news
releases and its complete financial statements, as filed with the SEC.
The Company encourages investors to consult this section of its website
regularly for important information and news. Additionally, by
subscribing to the Company's automatic
email news release delivery, individuals can receive news directly
from GMCR as it is released.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical fact and
are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the applicable
securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "feel," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan,"
"potential," "project," "should," "would," and similar expressions
intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Owing to the
uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, actual results
could differ materially from those stated here. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, the impact on sales and
profitability of consumer sentiment in this difficult economic
environment, the Company's success in efficiently expanding operations
and capacity to meet growth, the Company's success in efficiently and
effectively integrating the Company's acquisitions, the Company's
success in introducing and producing new product offerings, the ability
of lenders to honor their commitments under the Company's credit
facility, competition and other business conditions in the coffee
industry and food industry in general, fluctuations in availability and
cost of high-quality green coffee, any other increases in costs
including fuel, Keurig's ability to continue to grow and build profits
with its roaster partners in the At Home and Away from Home businesses,
the Company experiencing product liability, product recall and higher
than anticipated rates of warranty expense or sales returns associated
with a product quality or safety issue, the impact of the loss of major
customers for the Company or reduction in the volume of purchases by
major customers, delays in the timing of adding new locations with
existing customers, the Company's level of success in continuing to
attract new customers, sales mix variances, weather and special or
unusual events, the impact of the inquiry initiated by the SEC and any
related litigation or additional governmental investigative or
enforcement proceedings, as well as other risks described more fully in
the Company's filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements reflect
management's analysis as of the date of this release. The Company does
not undertake to revise these statements to reflect subsequent
developments, other than in its regular, quarterly earnings releases.
GMCR-C
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
Suzanne DuLong, 802-882-2100
VP
IR & Corporate Comm
Investor.Services@GMCR.com
Source: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media
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