EO Media Group file photo A worker at the Shearer's Foods processing plant outide hermiston inspects potato chips before they are packaged for distribution. The business completed a $4 million expansion in 2014, which will allow it to serve more customers this year.

A new expansion brought new employees and new growth at Shearer’s Foods in Hermiston in 2014.

On Jan. 15, 2014, the potato and tortilla chip manufacturer began a $4 million expansion to be able to make cooked corn tortilla chips and created the first batch May 25, Plant Manager Paul Chapman said.

The plant was already creating tortilla chips from corn flour, but the expansion provided the opportunity to cater to new manufacturing customers who wanted chips prepared in a more traditional style, he said. By adding cooking kettles and soaking kettles, Shearer’s can now cook, soak and mill raw corn, he said.

“A key part here has been being able to go out and bring in business, significant customers that want that kind of product,” Chapman said. “It has increased the business, and it has also increased our potential for more business.”

He said Shearer’s is a co-manufacturer that creates chips for a variety of brands, including store labels. With the new capability, Chapman said the company has attracted new customers because they can get all of their desired products from one plant.

“We have a significant brand new customer that’s going to be starting up in a month,” he said. “They’re very big in the Pacific Northwest. They’re going to get potato chips and cooked corn tortilla chips.”

The plant increased its production volume last year and plans to further increase it by 15 percent this year, he said. The additional volume has allowed the plant to run the tortilla chip production lines closer to their maximum capacity, increasing efficiency and requiring additional employees, Chapman said.

“Obviously, from a manufacturing point of view, you want to utilize your assets 24/7,” he said. “Being able to do cooked corn tortilla chips has allowed us to run the lines during days that we had capacity that we did not have the business. We have brought in about an additional 30 to 35 new associates on top of where we were.”

Prior to the expansion, Chapman said Shearer’s employed about 310 people, and employee numbers will probably grow to 350 or more as business continues to increase. He said the plant still has about 20 percent more capacity it could fill in its tortilla chip lines.

“We are looking for good people,” he said. “Most people come in and start as packers, but I have two supervisors here that started as packers. They came off the street at a low level and worked hard.”

Chapman said Shearer’s, which began in Ohio, increased from five to eight plants in 2014 with plans for continued growth. People can apply at shearers.com.

Although the ConAgra Lamb Weston facility in Hermiston and Hermiston Foods did not expand in 2014, both made infrastructure updates, representatives said.

“We had no line expansions or added jobs in 2014, but our facility in Hermiston is an integral part of our operation, and we continued to invest in the facility in 2014, making infrastructure updates to the plant,” ConAgra spokesman Shelby Stoolman said in an email.

Hermiston Foods General Manager Trent Waldern said the business celebrated its 25th year in operation in 2014, which through the years “has necessitated replacement and upgrades in our plant equipment and infrastructure.”

He said 2014 was an average year, but the weather was better than 2013, helping local growers achieve the yields necessary to meet projected sales volumes. He said Hermiston Foods has significant staff turnover each year and, like other local seasonal employers, is “finding it progressively more difficult to attract new employees.”

Waldern did, however, commend local growers for adapting with the company.

“Our local contract growers have done a good job of working with us to meet our crop needs and adapt to changes in those needs,” Waldern said.