Snack Alliance making major improvements in Commonwealth Avenue plant

BRISTOL, Va. – Snack Alliance plans to invest millions for new technology in its Commonwealth Avenue snack-making plant over the next 18 months, the company’s chairman said Friday.

SAI Chairman Pat Lindenbach said that between now and 2011, the company will spend as much as $3 million for additional production machinery and other major improvements inside its 42,000-square-foot Bristol plant, which makes potato chips, rice-based crisps and other snacks.

“We’ve been doing so well with production in our plant that it’s well worth investing more to do even more, even better,” Lindenbach said. “We look at it as a positive investment in our plant, and in Bristol, too.”

Lindenbach said Snack Alliance might also consider acquiring land in the nearby Gordon Business Park and using it to expand the existing plant. But he said any possible expansion would be 18 to 24 months away and, for now, Snack Alliance will keep using a Utah Street warehouse it rents for additional space.

The chairman made his comments after a luncheon at the Bristol Mall, attended by Snack Alliance’s entire 217-employee work force, to celebrate the company’s upcoming fifth anniversary in Bristol.

The chairman and other speakers, including Bristol Mayor James Rector, hailed the rapid success of the plant since its opening in December 2004 – just five months after previous owner Wise Foods, another chip maker, closed the facility.

Snack Alliance took over the Bristol plant with considerable financial support from both the city and the state. Since opening, the plant has:
* More than doubled its number of employees, from 78 to 217;
* Enjoyed a 50 percent increase in daily production of chips, from 80,000 to 120,000 pounds;
* And started shipping products – particularly its groundbreaking RiceWorks snacks – throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Lindenbach said the Bristol plant generated $500 million for the city’s economy since opening.

“You folks have written a remarkable story,” the chairman told employees.

Rector, too, cited Snack Alliance’s financial impact, saying Bristol is “grateful” for the company’s growing popularity.

“You have stayed the course and made such a significant economic contribution to our city,” Rector said.

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