Gilster-Mary Lee to add 50 jobs in Perry County

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- While many businesses are struggling in this economy, breakfast cereal manufacturers are seeing increased demand as shoppers try to stretch their grocery dollars further.

Gilster-Mary Lee, producer of private-label cereals and baked goods, will soon add two new production lines to keep up with its growing list of orders.

"When the economy is in trouble, people eat at home more, which means they are at the grocery store more, and they're looking for more value for their money," said Don Welge, president and general manager of Gilster-Mary Lee, based in Chester, Ill.

About 50 new jobs will be added at its Perry County facilities, including production and trucking positions, Welge said. One new line at Gilster-Mary Lee's McBride, Mo., plant will produce flake cereals, such as raisin bran. The second, in Perryville, will make round and O-shaped cereals.

"When consumers have a choice between generic or brand-name boxed cereals, the price difference can be as much as $1 per box," Welge said.

In order to free up space in its existing buildings for the new cereal production lines, Gilster-Mary Lee will build a new 96,000-square-foot cereal warehouse in the Perryville Industrial Park off Highway 51. Its trucking garage will move from its current Main Street location to a new 30,000-square-foot building at the industrial park site. The new trucking facility will be more than three times its current the size, allowing for 300 trucks to be parked there at once, Welge said.

The city of Perryville will receive a $674,655 Federal Community Development Block Grant to cover the cost infrastructure improvements at its industrial park to prepare for Gilster-Mary Lee's arrival.

The federal funds will pay for new water, sewer and electric lines as well as streets and lighting in what is now an empty field.

"Without the infrastructure, there's no vision. It's hard to sell an industrial park when all you see is a guy out there plowing a bean field," said Perryville Mayor Debbie Gahan.

The city was eligible to receive the funding as part of the Consolidated Security Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009, according to John Fougere, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The funds were appropriated to assist with economic revitalization in counties affected by natural disasters during 2008.

The relocation of the Gilster-Mary Lee trucking garage to the industrial park will reduce traffic congestion and dust in downtown Perryville, Gahan said. Gilster-Mary Lee currently employs 640 people at its Perryville facility. Gahan said she's thankful that Perryville's unemployment rate is 6.6 percent, lower than the national average of 10.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Crews began moving dirt at the new Gilster-Mary Lee site in the industrial park last week, and Welge said the company hopes to move into the new buildings this fall.

Gilster-Mary Lee has operated in downtown Perryville since 1969. In addition to cereals, the company makes other grain-based products, including macaroni and cheese, baking mixes and pasta.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

508 North Main St., Perryville, MO