Michael Foods is planning a $146 million expansion of its Norwalk manufacturing and distribution facility that when completed will result in the creation of 186 new jobs, city officials announced today.

The project will add 132,000 square feet to the north side of Michael Foods’ existing facility at 101 Delaware St. in Norwalk. The facility opened on the site in 2019.

Michael Foods “talked about doing this expansion when we worked out our initial agreement with them several years ago,” said Hollie Zajicek, Norwalk’s economic development director. “Everyone has grand plans but then Covid hit and then the tornado hit [in March 2022] and we weren’t sure whether they would do it. … They are, and right when they said they would. It’s pretty exciting.”

Michael Foods, headquartered in Hopkins, Minn., is the nation’s largest processor of value-added eggs. Its consumer brands include Papetti’s, Simply Potatoes, Abbotsford Farms and Easy Egg. The company, a subsidiary of Post Holdings, currently has about 180 employees at its Norwalk facility.

The planned expansion includes a building addition valued at $45 million and new manufacturing machinery and equipment and computer hardware valued at $101 million, according to an Iowa Economic Development Authority project report.

The city of Norwalk is expected to provide Michael Foods up to $7.4 million in tax increment financing rebates over a 17-year period, according to the report.

The IEDA board on Friday approved providing up to $1.35 million in refunds of sales, service or used taxes paid during the construction period. The board also approved providing an investment tax credit of $2.9 million, paid in increments of $584,000 over a five-year period.

Construction is expected to begin in July and be completed by December 2024.

“We are excited [that] our continued growth led us to seek expansion in Norwalk, where we are an employer of choice,” Steve Schonhoff, Michael Foods’ senior vice president of integrated supply chain, said in a prepared statement.

Michael Foods and Windsor Windows were the two large companies that located in Norwalk’s Certified Site on the northwest corner of Delaware Street and Iowa Highway 28. In 2019, the site was the first Iowa certified site to reach capacity, according to Norwalk officials. IEDA, in an effort to boost the number of shovel-ready industrial sites in the state, began the certified, or development ready, site program in 2012.

Norwalk has begun the process of adding a second certified site, which if approved, would be on the south side of Delaware Street, across from Michael Foods and Windsor Windows.

Zajicek said the new site would include 141 acres. “It’s a perfect location,” she said during this week’s Business Record Commercial Real Estate Forum. “We have utilities directly to the site. There’s a MidAmerican Energy substation across the street. We’re investing heavily in a large sewer project.”

Norwalk officials are hopeful that Michael Foods’ expansion will entice other companies to locate in the Warren County community, Zajicek said.

“I think the expansion will give them a little bit of courage that you can locate in Iowa, you can locate in these suburban cities connected to this fantastic metro area,” Zajicek said. “We have the infrastructure in place. We have the ability to service and work with these really large companies. … I think that this should give any large company, especially in manufacturing, the comfort to know that they can locate in a community like Norwalk.”