(Waupun) With the Waupun Common Council’s approval of a developer’s agreement with United Cooperative of Beaver Dam, President and Chief Executive Officer David Cramer spoke to the impact the new facility will have on the nearly 90-year-old company.
Cramer says United Coop has 55 locations across Wisconsin, and the new seed production and soybean processing plant will be the largest such facility for the company. He adds it will join five similar locations within Wisconsin.
United Cooperative, which began back in 1936 as Dodge County Cooperative, has grown through mergers and acquisitions over several decades. Changing their name to United Cooperative in 1998, the company now sits as Wisconsin’s largest farmer-owned grain and farm supply cooperative.
With area locations in Beaver Dam, Horicon, Mayville, Hartford, Ripon, and Hartford, Cramer says the new Waupun facility fits the company’s needs logistically. He specifically notes road infrastructure and railroad access, adding that this will be a big project with construction moving quickly based upon weather conditions.
Cramer says United Coop has been in talks with the city of Waupun over the last eight months although the plan to build a new facility has been a project two years in the making.
The new $100-million-dollar feed production and soybean processing facility is anticipated to create 50 jobs and produce a potential payroll of $3-million-dollars annually.
