Mrs. Clark's Foods plans expansion of its Ankeny facility

Mrs. Clark’s Foods plans expansion of its Ankeny facility

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KATHY A. BOLTEN | Sep 23, 2020 | 12:58 pm |

2 min read time

MCF Operating LLC, which does business as Mrs. Clark’s Foods, is planning a $5 million expansion to its facility at 740 S.E. Dalbey Drive in Ankeny. In addition, the company plans to add more than $4 million in new production equipment to the facility. Photo courtesy of Google

An Ankeny-based manufacturer of salad dressings and other similar products plans to expand its facility, purchase new equipment and hire additional workers, information provided to the City Council this week shows.

The Ankeny City Council this week approved a development agreement with MCF Operating LLC that would provide the company with up to $160,000 in property tax rebates over a five-year period. MCF Operating does business as Mrs. Clark’s Foods. The expansion also is expected to qualify the company for an industrial property tax exemption, city documents show.

The agreement comes after the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board last week awarded Mrs. Clark’s Foods $165,000 in investment tax credits and $157,500 in refund of sales, service or use taxes paid during construction.

Mrs. Clark’s Foods, founded in Iowa in 1926, produces its own brands of salad dressings, juices, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and other marinades, as well as similar products for other food companies. The company’s products are distributed to schools, retail stores and food stores in the U.S. and other countries, according to city documents.

“A lot of products that you may use are actually manufactured here in Ankeny but under a different label that doesn’t say Mrs. Clark’s,” Derek Lord, the city’s economic development director, told the council. “They touch a lot of different businesses. … As a result of increased demand, they are planning an expansion project.”

The expansion will include construction of a 60,000-square-foot production and warehouse facility on the east side of Mrs. Clark’s Foods’ current facility at 740 S.E. Dalbey Drive. The expansion is valued at about $5 million, according to city documents. In addition, the company will invest about $4.25 million in new production equipment and other improvements at its facility, pushing the expansion’s value at more than $9.2 million, Lord said.

This is the company’s second expansion in less than 10 years. In 2014, a 69,000-square-foot production, warehouse and refrigeration addition was added to its Ankeny facility.

The company’s Ankeny property is valued at $3.9 million, according to Polk County assessor records.

The expansion is expected to increase the valuation of the property by $2.9 million, according to city documents. The city expects $94,000 in new property taxes to be generated during the five years covered by the development agreement. When the agreement expires and property is no longer eligible for industrial property tax exemption and tax increment financing rebates, the city estimates the property will generate $115,000 in new tax revenue annually.

The development agreement requires Mrs. Clark’s Foods to add 19 new jobs, which will increase the number of workers at the company to 118, Lord said. The additional workers will boost the company’s payroll by $750,000 annually, he said.

Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed by 2021.

Mrs. Clark’s Foods was acquired in 2012 by the MK Fund, an equity group based in Chicago. It previously was owned by a AGRI Industries.

KATHY A. BOLTEN

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