Darigold breaks ground on $600M Tri-Cities milk processing plant. 100s of jobs to come
Darigold officially broke ground this week on a long-in-the-works new Tri-Cities processing facility, with officials saying their $600 million investment will bring in at least that much more in value for the region.
It’s been a long road to get to the point where they could even break ground, with Darigold working with Port of Pasco officials and elected leaders to get infrastructure in place for the Reimann Industrial Center. It’s also $100 million more than Darigold originally estimated the plant would cost.
Early on, state legislators approved $7.5 million in funding, and most recently Washington’s two senators secured millions to run the last mile of railroad to the future industrial park.
Dairgold board chairman Allan Huttema called the new facility the first step toward a transformation for the company and the 350 farmer-owners who make up the dairy co-op.
Huttema said some of the key players in helping them get the project off the ground were state senator Mark Schoesler, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, the Port of Pasco, TRIDEC and the city of Pasco.
In total, their help enabled the port to invest about $20 million in infrastructure.
The port also was one of the first projects in the region to use the new Tax Increment Financing program, which allowed them to invest in a bond for about $7.5 million secured by projected income taxes over 20 years.
Darigold CEO Joe Coote said the facility will create 200 well-paying jobs, with 100 individual dairy farms supporting the plant’s operations.
“We’re blessed with really strong foundations going back 104 years, and we hope to be in this facility for another 104 years,” Coote said. “(Those) 100 family farms represent an equivalent amount of investment, in total about a billion dollars, our farmers are investing their hard earned capital into the region.”
Coote said their dairy products go far beyond just milk — from butter used in the nation’s largest coffee chain’s pastries, to protein for infant formula in Indonesia to milk fat for products in China.
He said the Pacific Northwest based co-op uses about two-thirds of its milk for other products and exports.
Regional investment
Port of Pasco CEO Randy Hayden said the work they’ve done with Darigold will also lead to related businesses investing more in the region, and likely the Reimann Industrial Center itself.
Hayden said it was a huge accomplishment considering they were still years out from beginning the infrastructure work when Darigold approached them.
“We thought it would take five years to even get funding for infrastructure and marketing,” Hayden said. “Regardless of our readiness, this was an opportunity that was too big to pass up so we got with our community partners and rolled up our sleeves to get it done.”
Hayden said they expect to see investment in cold storage facilities and other businesses to help coordinate Darigold’s global output.
“Keep your eyes on Pasco,” Hayden said. “Darigold did and we’re confident in their success and more great things to come.”
The 400,000-square foot plant will process about 8 million pounds of milk each day, and create an estimated 200 direct jobs and 1,000 related support positions.
They hope to have the plant complete by the end of 2023.
