Wabash Valley Foods provides update on Dubois cooked-egg plant

The Dubois County Council heard an update from Wabash Valley Food officials, who were set to provide a compliance report at Monday’s regular council meeting.

Wabash Valley Foods’ new cooked-egg plant is exceeding expectations in both production capabilities and employment numbers, according to CFO Andy Seger, who provided an update on the project.

The plant, which began shipping commercial product in early February, has already hired 37 employees, surpassing the original projection of 31 positions outlined in the company’s tax abatement application.

“We’re confident that we’re going to end up hiring probably a few more employees than what we talked about originally,” said Seger. “Salaries will be in excess of what we talked about originally.”

The project represents a significant investment that has grown beyond initial estimates. While the company originally projected spending approximately $63 million on both real and personal property, actual expenditures have already reached $64 million, with additional spending expected as the project is finalized.

“I think mostly from a high level, we in the community are really, really excited about the project. Things are all going pretty well,” Seger told the council.

Grant Knies, Vice President of Finance, provided more detailed figures on the project’s financial status. The company initially estimated personal property investments of $38.2 million but has already spent $50.5 million, with additional expenditures of $4 to $ 5 million since the end of 2024.

For real property, the company projected $24 million in spending but has currently invested approximately $13.8 million, with an additional $1 million spent since the end of the calendar year.

The discrepancy between projected and actual spending categories is partly due to pending classification decisions. The company awaits a cost segregation study that will determine whether certain expenditures qualify as personal or real property.

“We could have some pretty big shifts between real property and personal property, depending on how that gets classified with our accountants,” Sager explains. “We’ve got a lot of expenditures in fixtures and equipment that could probably go either way.”

This classification has implications for the tax abatement process, as different categories of investment receive different treatment. However, company officials emphasize that the total investment amount is what matters most.

“We’ve always felt like the dollars on the whole, we were going to be pretty good at estimating that,” Seger said. “We’re not wildly over. We might be 5%, 10% over.”

The company expects to have final figures and classifications by October 1 at the latest, after completing the cost segregation study and capitalizing all expenditures on their books.

Officials discuss how the current status affects the abatement process for 2025, with questions about the timing of assessments. The assessor’s office reportedly assessed the building addition at 100% completion as of January 1, although company representatives note that they began production in early February, with some equipment still being installed.

The council appeared satisfied with the update and voted to approve the report, passing the motion unanimously.

Wabash Valley Foods is committed to providing further updates once the project is fully closed out and all financial classifications are finalized. The company will work directly with local officials and the assessor’s office to ensure accurate information for tax abatement purposes.

“We feel this is going to be a great asset for Dubois and for our county,” Seger said. “We feel it’s a great asset for our business in terms of potential future growth. It’s a new growth avenue for us and our group and our family and the company are extremely appreciative of your guys’ support.”