As Hillandale Farms’ plans to expand its operations near Hicksville, Ohio, the company recently learned it will receive tax abatements from the county.
The Defiance County Commission recently met with Jerry Hayes, the county’s economic development director to discuss a proposed Enterprise Zone Agreement for Hillandale Farms. That agreement includes a 70% tax exemption for a period of ten years.
According to a press release posted on the Defiance County Commission’s Facebook page, Hillandale will construct four new layer barns, an additional manure storage shed, supplementary egg handling and sorting machinery, an additional driveway and site improvements for the Hicksville complex.
The company is investing an estimated $26 million for the project.
Within three years of the expansion, the company plans to add 16 permanent full-time positions, which will amount to roughly $332,800 in annual wages.
The county commission, with the consent of local school districts, approved the Enterprise Zone Agreement.
Hillandale Farms announced in 2013 it was building an egg production facility in the Hicksville area that would house about 2 million hens in a system using enriched cages. That facility was later identified as a site where the company would engage in cage-free egg production. The company announced in 2016 that it intends to gradually transition to 100% cage-free egg production at all of its production facilities.
Hillandale Farms was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
According to the Egg Industry Top Companies survey, Hillandale Farms is the fourth largest egg producer in the United States and is tied with Japan-based Ise Inc. as the sixth largest egg company in the world. It had a flock of 20 million hens at the conclusion of 2019.
Hillandale has production facilities in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast and supplies retailers and distributors throughout the eastern U.S. Along with eggs, the company also offers butter, cheese, meats and breads.
