Litehouse Foods cuts ribbon on expanded facility; donates $10K to The Learning Center for Families

Jim Frank, Litehouse Foods president and CEO, presents check to The Learning Center for Families at plant expansion ceremony, Sept, 19, 2018, Hurricane, Utah | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

HURRICANE — Litehouse Foods celebrated the completion of a new expansion to its Hurricane plant Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and $10,000 check presentation to The Learning Center for Families.

This family started with a fledgling business, all they had was a couple of salad dressings. It’s a true rags to riches story,” said Helen Christoff, as she gazed at the historical pictures lining the lobby walls of the production facility.

Her husband, Wendell Christoff, current board member and original partner of Litehouse, said he’s amazed at how far the company has grown since they partnered with the organization in 1997. Christoff said he remembers when the company first purchased the building built during the economic downturn eight years ago at just 80,000 square feet. It now stands at over three times the size.

Read more: Litehouse Foods successfully adds 103 jobs at Hurricane facility; more to come

Community gathers at ribbon cutting ceremony for Litehouse Foods Hurricane facility expansion project, Sept. 19, 2018, Hurricane, Utah | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Hurricane Mayor John Wayne Bramall and other city officials, several representatives from local businesses and Litehouse employees all joined Jim Frank, president and CEO of Litehouse Foods for a reception.

Suzanne Leonelli, chief executive officer of The Learning Center for Families, said the donation will be a huge help to the organization. TLC focuses on early intervention, early Head Start education and has a child development center childcare. Ninety-five  percent of the work the organization does is in the home from birth to age five. It currently serves over 800 vulnerable families in Washington County and the surrounding areas. 

“We will use the money to serve more kids … we have a waiting list,” Leonelli said.

It was a ceremony filled with appreciation for community leaders that have assisted in the process, but more important, it was a moment for Frank to thank each of his employees and friends that have made the company successful over the past five decades.

“We are proud to be great financial partners with organizations such as the learning center and all of the communities which we live in,” Frank said. ““What a great place, great community, great people, here is a toast to all of you.”

Read more: Litehouse Foods successfully adds 103 jobs at Hurricane facility; more to come

In addition to 175,000 square feet of new production space and 8 acres of improved land, the company added 165 jobs due to the expansion. The new refrigerated area alone is almost as big as the original building at 75,000 feet.

Community gathers at ribbon cutting ceremony for Litehouse Foods Hurricane facility expansion project, Sept. 19, 2018, Hurricane, Utah | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Hawkins said new machines will be brought online every couple of weeks until the new facility is in full production.

Being an entirely employee owned company since 2014, Frank attributes much of the company’s recent phenomenal growth to his dedicated workers. He said the company will be able to achieve its goal of delivering a high level of personal wealth to each of its employees.

In 2019, Litehouse will ship over 1 billion individual products worldwide, many  produced in Hurricane, which is now its largest manufacturing plant in the nation.

“Our goal is to continue to add jobs to the communities that have helped us grow into a dominant leader in our industry,” Frank said.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • comment September 21, 2018 at 8:13 am

    I guess stealing recipes from your previous employers is very profitable these days. Way to go on the corporate sabotage Litehouse.

  • Striker4 September 21, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    Here I am Trolling St George news at 1:33 PM Friday September 21st 2018…..
    …..well golly gee whiz there Kojak ! nice guys finish last

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