150 new jobs coming to Joplin - KOAM TV 7

150 new jobs coming to Joplin

Dignitaries broke ground Tuesday in Joplin on a manufacturing and distribution center for a company that makes organic pet food.

The Blue Buffalo Pet Foods Company is building a 400,000 square foot, $82 million facility in the Crossroads Industrial Park.

The company considered several communities as possible sites for the plant.

It chose Joplin in part because of the resilience the people showed in the aftermath of the tornado.

"The way this town responded and the way people helped other people in need impressed us," says Bill Bishop, founder and CEO of Blue Buffalo Pet Foods.  "We value attitude.  We respect attitude.  And we are a company that is built on getting up and getting things done, and we've accomplished more in 10 years than any other pet food company has done, so we are a fit with Joplin."

Construction begins right away and should be complete by mid 2014.

The company hopes to be fully operational with 150 employees by early 2015.