Lifeplus investing $24 million in Batesville to grow 150 jobs

Lifeplus International, a creator of wellbeing products, broke ground Friday (Dec. 9) on the first of four new buildings at its flagship manufacturing facility in Batesville. The company plans to invest $24 million and create 150 jobs within five years. Lifeplus currently has its corporate headquarters and a facility in Batesville where it employs a combined 250 people who develop nutritional supplements for customers throughout the world. Another 350 Lifeplus employees work in Europe.

“Lifeplus is looking forward to this next chapter in the growth and expansion of our company,” Lifeplus owner Robert Christian said. “We’re excited about the good paying jobs this expansion will create here in our community and about the increased production capability and resulting market share that it will give us both here in the U.S. and worldwide.”

This will be the first of four new buildings for Lifeplus that will not only increase the company’s footprint in Batesville to about 250,000 square feet but will also double the company’s local workforce.

“It’s always a great a day when we get to celebrate our homegrown companies,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. “Lifeplus has been a great community partner in Batesville. I am confident that this expansion will take Lifeplus to new heights, and before long, they will be a household name not just overseas, but also throughout Arkansas. This is just another example of how Arkansas has the tools in place to help businesses grow and succeed in the global economy.”

Created more than 30 years ago, Lifeplus manufactures and distributes more than 140 dietary supplements and nutritional products at the Batesville facility. Lifeplus takes raw ingredients and mixes them into formulations for powders, tablets, and capsules under strict quality control management to assure purity, potency, and correct dosage. The products are then boxed for shipment, most of which head to facilities in Great Britain and the Netherlands for distribution to numerous countries throughout Europe.

While most Lifeplus customers are in Europe, this expansion will provide a greater opportunity for the company to significantly grow its footprint in North America. Through this expansion, Lifeplus will now be able to manufacture many of its existing products as gummies, which have grown in popularity, as well as make gummies for third parties. Lifeplus will also now be able to manufacture a number of its nutritional products in other forms, such as soft gels, that are not currently manufactured in house.

In addition to building a new facility, Lifeplus is purchasing an existing 28,000-square-foot building in Batesville for additional manufacturing space.