Diamond Pet Foods has broken ground on a 700,000-sq-ft, $259 million manufacturing and distribution center in Rushville, Ind., to increase the company’s output to its Midwest clients. The state-of-the-art operation, which will create up to 170 new jobs, is expected to be operational in 2024.
Since 1970, Diamond Pet Foods, a family-owned business headquartered in Meta, Mo., has been producing cat and dog food from U.S.-sourced ingredients. It has over 1,000 employees in its Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, South Carolina, and California locations.
The new facility will be the company’s first in Indiana. According to Diamond Pet Foods, it’s growing its Midwest presence due to the growing demand for pet food, as well as an increase in U.S. pet ownership over the last several years.
“We are excited to choose Rushville for its proximity to suppliers as well as the community’s skilled workforce,” says Mike Kampeter, president of Diamond Pet Foods. “This new state-of-the-art facility will allow us to continue offering quality pet food at prices pet parents can feel good about. We look forward to adding Rushville and Indiana to the Diamond family.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has committed to an investment of up to $1.5 million in Schell & Kampeter (dba Diamond Pet Foods) in the form of performance-based tax credits, as well as up to $300,000 in the local community from the Industrial Development Grant Fund to support infrastructure improvements. The company will be eligible to claim the incentives once the investments have been made, and Indiana residents have been hired for positions at the facility.
