By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WARREN, Ind. — An Italian cheese-maker plans to begin construction on a $9.5 million plant in Huntington County in September, according to company and state officials.

Golfo di Napoli Dairy expects to hire 35 workers for high-wage jobs by 2021, the company said. The organic cheese facility will produce ricotta, mozzarella, provolone and other types. The 3,000 square-foot plant will be on 40 acres along Interstate 69 in Warren.

Company officials expect to begin hiring later this year, and for the plant to open in February 2019. A team of fourth-generation cheese producers from Italy will own and operate the dairy. The facility will be the company’s first in the United States. USDA-certified organic milk from Indiana’s Fair Oaks Farms will be used to produce the cheeses, the company said.

“We chose Indiana because we believe that it is the perfect location to produce authentic Neapolitan mozzarella, serving customers across the Midwest,” explained Antonio Somma, president of Golfo di Napoli Dairy. “This facility and our partnership with Fair Oaks Farms will allow us to expand our cheese production expertise to the U.S. – local organic milk with incredible Italian taste, as we like to say.”

It’s important for Indiana to look for new ways to add dairy processing facilities in the state, said Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

“That’s the reason for our dairy strategy,” he noted. “A lot of milk is flowing outside of the border of Indiana every day. The strategy was designed to keep it here and process it here. We want to continue to find ways to add value to products here.”

ISDA announced its dairy strategy in 2015. The plan has a goal of expanding the state’s dairy industry and capitalizing on Indiana’s growing production capability.

“Processors are looking for high-quality milk and the dairies to supply it,” Kettler said. “They’re also thinking about transportation costs. It’s cheaper to get a lot of milk close to your facility.

“We’re talking about very small margins here. And if I’m a dairy farmer in Indiana, if I don’t have a lot of processing facilities nearby, that will mean higher transportation costs.”

The Indiana Site Certified program was a factor in drawing the facility to the state and to Huntington County, said Larry Buzzard, president of the county Board of Commissioners. The program certifies sites that are ready for economic development.

The site chosen by Golfo di Napoli for its facility has been in Huntington County’s long-range plans for years, he pointed out. “The Indiana Site Certified program hyper-accelerated interest in this location. I can’t say enough about the state and local collaboration it’s taken to make this possible. Teamwork like this produces great results.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered Golfo di Napoli conditional tax credits up to $300,000 based on the company’s job creation plans. Because the incentives are performance-based, the company is not eligible to receive them until Hoosiers are hired.

Additional grant funding has been approved by the Huntington County Board of Commissioners.