Shearer’s Foods To Add 100 New Jobs In Newport

An Ohio-based food company has announced it will hire 100 more people at its facility in Newport.

Shearer’s Foods will increase production at its Newport plant with the new jobs ranging from management to production, Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Newport Economic Development Commission, said Friday.

The company bought the former Medallion Foods plant in 2014 and has added employees ever since, Chadwell said.

With the announcement, the company will have 425 employees at the Newport plant.

According to the company’s website, they produce Granny Goose potato chips, Brent and Sam’s cookies as well as pretzels, pork rinds and rice crisps for stores like Costco and Walmart.

Chadwell said the announcement and the work of Shearer’s Foods has provided a boost to the area.

“The Newport facility has always been important to our local economy,” Chadwell said. “And it has become even more significant with the investments being made by Shearer’s. We are so happy that they are part of our community.”

The company is looking to have all of the positions filled by the end of the year, with the positions open immediately, Chadwell said.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The announcement Friday was the third one in the past two weeks involving new jobs in the region.

Officials with Southwest Steel Processing in Newport announced June 1 that they would also be hiring 100 people as part of an $18 million expansion to their facility.

The company – an agreement between Park Ohio and Arkansas Steel Associates – uses raw material from Arkansas Steel to help make components for the railcar industry, officials said.

Officials with Ozark Mountain Poultry announced June 6 they would build a new feed mill in Magness and open a plant in nearby Batesville.

The company is expected to hire 225 people as part of the expansion.

The company received a $1.3 million federal grant to help build the feed mill and a $2.2 million state grant for the plant, officials said.