Governor Tony Evers came home to Plymouth on Thursday to kick off June Dairy month, and to announce the State of Wisconsin’s support of a major expansion of Masters Gallery Foods in Oostburg.
Accompanied by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes, the Governor said that WEDC will supply Masters Gallery with up to $1.5 million in performance-based state tax credits.
Governor Evers said that Wisconsin was glad to make the investment in Masters Gallery “not only on their success and growth, but in the new opportunities for good-paying jobs for the hard working people in northeastern Wisconsin.
The money will add to the $60 million that Masters Gallery is investing in its Oostburg expansion that the Governor said will add 105 jobs to Sheboygan County’s workforce, one that the Governor was quick to praise. He said that “Whether they’re working at Kohler or they’re working at Masters Gallery, or Sargento, or Sartori, it doesn’t make any difference…people that live in this area are hard-working people, they care about the things that are important, they care about schools, they care about working as hard as they can to make the products that they do.”
And Evers was especially proud of Wisconsin’s signature dairy industry. He said “We’re not called America’s Dairyland for nothing. We’re number-one in cheese production in the U.S., Wisconsin’s dairy industry is not only a vital part of our economy, but it’s core to our heritage.”
The Cheese Counter and Dairy Heritage Center in Plymouth, a city known as the “Cheese Capital of the World”, was an appropriate setting for the announcement, which coincided with the start of “June Dairy Month” in Wisconsin. About 15 percent of America’s cheese goes through Plymouth, where Masters Gallery is based.
Jeff Gentine, President and CEO of Masters Gallery said the new Oostburg expansion is well on its way to completion, with line installation scheduled this summer. He acknowledged that progress was slower than hoped, and that was mostly due to supply-chain troubles, an issue that’s affecting most sectors in the U.S. But Gentine said that “Our biggest challenge, of course, will be staffing the lines, something that we never had to think about in years past. But that is present of mind, it is our singular biggest issue right now and it’s the biggest impediment to growth. But we’re gonna get there because we always do.”
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