Marathon Cheese walls begin to go up

Support poles for the interior wall panels were recently erected at the Marathon Cheese construction site and work on the 212,000 square foot packaging plant has been progressing steadily, according to Ron Swearingen, Executive Director for the Mountain Home Economic Development Office.

Swearingen said that despite severe rain and wet conditions earlier this spring that caused construction delays of more than a month, he expects the facility to be fully operational by January, 2007.

"From what they tell me, they hope to be in the building and wrapping up the hiring process by December," he said. "After that they should ready for production."

Construction on the cheese packaging plant was originally scheduled for completion in October but Swearingen said there have been several minor delays.

"We've had some problems with the road, the power lines, and the infrastructure," he said. "The joint utilities and sewer lines have been especially tough."

"We have had to blast through basically 20 feet of solid rock to get them in."

The cost of materials has also been a problem and Swearingen said it was a good thing Marathon shipped four sets of plans for the various contractors.

"They had everything covered in those plans, all the way down to the emergency sprinkler system throughout the entire building," he said.

Even with all the bad weather and inflation costs, Swearingen noted the progress that has been made and said that all of the city's responsibilities would be completed no later than September 1st.

"All the lines will be put in and the road will be paved by the end of August," he said. "That way, construction on the actual building itself can really take off."

As of right now, an access road off of Elmcrest Street, known as Tom Berry Memorial Highway, is serving as the main road while Marathon Way is under construction. All supplies and materials are being routed through this access road.

"I don't know if people understand just how big of an operation this is," Swearingen said. "The refrigerator itself is more than 90,000 square feet. That's almost as big as the entire Wal-Mart building."

The packaging plant, which will package and ship cheese for several cheese processing companies, will be equipped to handle and receive cheese in the 640 pound blocks it's shipped in.

The cheese will then be sliced, diced, chopped, cubed or shredded before it's packaged and shipped to markets worldwide.

The Marathon Corporation, based out of Marathon, Wisc., also has plants in Medford, Wisc., and Booneville, Miss.

However, Swearingen said the Mountain Home plant will be their biggest packaging facility by far.

"It's 212,000 square feet total--90,000 square feet for refrigeration; 100,000 square feet for packaging purposes; and 10,000 square feet for office spaces," he said.

The company plans on having 250 full-time employees trained and ready to begin operations come January and hopes to reach a total capacity of 500 workers in the following months.

According to the Economic Development Office, for every 100 jobs at the plant itself, anywhere from 40-50 supplementary jobs will be created within the community.

"The great thing about Marathon is not only will their plant create more jobs in the community," said Swearingen. "But they literally have no negative impact on the surrounding area as well."

Swearingen said that potential employees at the packaging facility could expect to earn "top wages" for the area (starting at $10 /hr), and would also receive one of the best benefit packages available.

"Marathon has 1,650 employees already nationwide," Swearingen said. "And they promote within the company 100 percent."

"They definitely take care of their own."

Those interested in applying for positions at the Mountain Home facility can register by contacting Idaho Commerce and Labor (ICL) on their website at www.cl.idaho.gov, by calling the Mountain Home office at 364-7788, or by stopping by the office, located across from the golf course at 1993 E. 8th North St.

Finally, Swearingen said that he and his staff have been in constant contact with Marathon officials back in Wisconsin and said that they have heard nothing but praise for the progress being made on the new plant.

"In all the conversations I've had, including a trip back there to view the main plant, I have heard nothing but good things about Mountain Home," he said. "Everyone I've met has been overwhelmed by the reception they've received out here and excited at the idea of being in production by the first of the year."

Marathon's Chief Financial Officer is expected to be in town in the next couple weeks to view progress and work with Swearingen's office as construction continues.