Buddig Buys Butterball Plant, Brings 300 Jobs To Montgomery

Months after Butterball closed its Montgomery plant, eliminating 600 jobs, a lunch meat company has announced it will move into the 280,000-square-foot facility. Carl Buddig & Co. this week announced it has acquired the property, located at 2125 Rochester Drive, in a move that will bring hundreds of jobs back to the village.

"The expansion will create an additional 250 to 300 jobs in the coming year," Buddig Chief Operating Officer Dan Wynn said. “We are not simply transferring jobs from our current facilities. We are creating new jobs to accommodate growth and work more efficiently."

Wynn said Buddig’s corporate office will remain in Homewood and production will continue in all its South Holland facilities.”

In a news release, Buddig said the Montgomery location will be its fourth manufacturing site in Illinois. The sale closed Jan. 19 and the acquisition will expand the Carl Buddig Illinois-based workforce to more than 1,800 employees.

“Expanding our manufacturing footprint to relieve pressure from current facilities and add capacity to address growing production demands from our customers has been a #1 priority for the company,” CEO Bob Buddig said. “When the Montgomery facility became available, we jumped on the opportunity immediately. The new plant enables the company to significantly expand production of existing products and new products to be developed in the future.”

Executive Vice President of Marketing Tom Buddig said the expansion comes as the company celebrates its 75th anniversary. "Servicing our customers’ needs and serving up great tastes for consumers got us to where we are today," he said in a news release. "This expansion is an important step in making sure this continues and prepares our family owned company for the next 75 years and generations to follow."

Karen Noble, the company's executive vice president of human resources, said since the Montgomery plan previously served as a meat processing facility, "We believe there may be a number of trained and qualified workers living in the area."

Montgomery job openings have been posted to the"Careers" section of the Buddig website.

Based in Homewood, Buddig says it provides "fresh, great-tasting, affordable meats."

Image via Carl Buddig & Co.