TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Michigan potato growers should be smiling at how a maker of hand crafted kettle chips with humble beginnings keeps growing.

Great Lakes Potato Chips is expanding once again with help from an $80,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).

The money is a drop in the bucket compared to the $2.4 million investment by the father and son owned company but MDARD is glad to help, said MDARD Director Gary McDowell.

“We’re proud to play a small but important role in these advancements and we’re excited to see what the future holds for our innovative and driven entrepreneurs,” he said.

Great Lakes Potato Chips in Traverse City is building a larger facility in the same community. According to company officials, the more than 23,000 square foot expansion will help the company meet rapidly increasing demand for its award winning kettle chips.

Nearly all of the seven million pounds of potatoes now used in a year for making the chips are from Michigan growers within 90 miles of the plant, company officials said. About 150,000 pounds of potatoes were used in the company’s first year, said Chris Girrbach, owner of the company with his father, Ed.

The expansion will allow production to double and help meet a goal of selling chips from eight to 14 states in five years, company officials said.

The company also sells its chips in Canada.

McDowell said the company wanting to increase market share and its dedication to buying potatoes from within the state helped in the decision to approve its application for funding.

Five new jobs are expected to be added to the existing workforce of more than 25 full-time employees.

“Michigan is home to so many innovative, entrepreneurial, agricultural and food production companies and we must ensure that they have the resources they need to thrive,” said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Great Lakes Potato Chips offers several flavors like original sea salt, barbecue and salt, pepper and onion, and a few seasonal varieties. The company also makes a tortilla chip.

According to the company’s website, the father and son were in the restaurant business in 2009 when they came up with the idea of making potato chips to fill what they felt was a void in the market.

“We wanted to expand that into some kind of retail manufacturing. My dad loves potatoes. I said let’s do potato chips and we dove in,” Chris Girrbach said.

They started hauling potatoes 110 miles to their small plant in a pick-up truck then acquired a 16-foot box truck along with a second kettle fryer the following year as demand started growing.

A third much larger fryer and second high speed bagging line were added two-years later, company officials said. More expansions followed as did recognition from publications and other agencies for the quality of their products and rapid growth of the company.

Great Lakes Potato Chips was named one of the top 50 Michigan companies to watch in 2014 and was voted the “#1 Kettle Chip in the Country” by the Chicago Tribune in 2015.

The company also received two Gold Ribbon Awards for best kettle chip and best tortilla chip at the National Chip Festival in 2016 at the Sarasota Springs, N.Y.

Other awards include the 1st Place Growth Award in 2016 at the Crain’s Business Annual Food Summit in Detroit.

Ed Girrbach said he believes the keys to their success include leaving the potato skins on the chips for taste along with added nutrients and fiber. He also noted the chips are made with non-GMO oil and are cholesterol and gluten free.

“Basically, we keep it simple and natural,” he said.