Foodmaker Expands in Hudson

Arlington Foods to expand offerings, add jobs

By Terry Troy

Located in Hudson Ohio southeast of Cleveland, Arlington Valley Farms plans to launch several “ready-to-eat” frozen/packaged food brands at its Hudson production facility. The company will invest $4.5 million in capital equipment and create 97 new jobs.

“We are extremely grateful to the city of Hudson, Summit County, JobsOhio and Team NEO for their partnership in our expansion and their financial support, said Pete Jacobson, CEO of the company. “Our vision is North America, but our foundation is centered upon our Arlington Valley Farms employee family, our city, county and state, and to our many partners who help us feed the world the way we feed our own families.”

Arlington Valley Farm’s approach incorporates complete scratch cooking with high-volume bakery production. The company’s Snack’n Waffles product line and patented S’wiches Crafted Sandwiches line of hand-held, ready-to-eat, toasted sandwiches are popular. Sales of the convenience foods have been strong as the company introduces the products to target markets.

The economic development team supporting Arlington Valley Farms’ expansion includes the City of Hudson, Summit County, JobsOhio and Team NEO.

“The city of Hudson is thrilled that Arlington Valley Farms has elected to call Hudson home,” said Jim Stifler, Chief Economic Officer for the city of Hudson. “The company’s leaders are food industry veterans with a great record of innovation. They have made wonderful use of a strategic space in our city and their early growth trajectory is extremely promising.”

“Summit County is excited to support the growth of Arlington Valley Farms in Hudson,” added Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro. “Through our public workforce system’s On-the-Job Training program funding and targeted job seeker recruiting, we are committed to helping this thriving business add good-paying jobs at a time when they are desperately needed. We will continue to work with Team NEO, JobsOhio and other local partners to support our businesses and create job opportunities for our residents.”

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro

Food manufacturing is a thriving cluster in Northeast Ohio, with more than 370 food processing and manufacturing establishments supplying food and beverages to consumers worldwide.

“Along with our local partners and JobsOhio, we welcome Arlington Valley Farms’ rapid growth and positive impact in Hudson, and remain committed to supporting its long-term success,” said Bill Koehler, CEO of Team NEO. “We’re confident that Northeast Ohio’s robust, trained talent pool of food manufacturing and production workers, as well as its access to raw materials and suppliers, will help the company prosper.”