GONZALES — Mann Packing is planning to build an agricultural processing facility in Gonzales, potentially bringing in about 200 jobs to the area.
“The City of Gonzales is pleased to welcome another major business into our industrial park, Mann Packing,” said City Manager Rene Mendez. “They continue our mission to bring a high-quality agricultural processing company to the city. They are going to bring some quality jobs to the area.”
The new agricultural facility for Mann Packing would be located at 49 Katherine St. in the Gonzales Agricultural Industrial Business Park. The fresh vegetable food processing facility would be 130,000 square feet and be on a project site of 16 acres.
Mann Packing CEO Lorri Koster confirmed that the facility would be located in Gonzales, but declined to comment any further.
The conditional use permit that Mann Packing sought at the July 12 Planning Commission meeting included raw product cold storage and processing lines where the produce will be cleaned, sized and packaged. Also, there would be office administration space of approximately 7,900 square feet along with miscellaneous mechanical and storage rooms. The packaging operation would also include exterior storage of cardboard cartons.
Fencing would enclose the entire perimeter as part of the current food safety measures and a check-in area when entering the site.
According to the Gonzales Planning Commission report, there would be approximately 195 parking spaces for employees.
The facility will use an average of approximately 30 semi-trucks six days a week that will deliver raw product to the site for processing and then transfer the finished product to the existing warehouse in Salinas. No products will be purchased or sold at the Gonzales facility.
According to its website, Mann Packing began in 1939 when H.W. “Cy” Mann began his career trimming lettuce and opened a fresh carrot packing operation. In 1976, Bill Ramsey and Don Nucci joined Mann as partners in the company. Currently, the Nucci and Ramsey families lead the firm that spans three generations.
Mann Packing is a majority women-owned and operated business and is one of the country’s leading suppliers of fresh vegetables, including their broccolini product and sugar snap peas.
Mann Packing also has a goal to protect and conserve natural resources. According to the website, wash water at its facilities is reclaimed into industrial waste systems for use on golf courses and city landscaping and 90 percent of their facilities’ waste water is recycled.
At the Salinas plant, the electrical usage is the same as it was in 2001 despite a 50-percent increase in capacity. All the Mann Packing corrugate and plastic packaging is recycled, and it has zero packaging waste.
Next for the City of Gonzales and Mann Packing is a variety of permits ranging from land, building and starting of construction. There is no date set yet for the groundbreaking ceremony, but it is expected in the next few months.
