It's now official: Blue Buffalo Pet Products is coming to Richmond.
City and county officials announced Tuesday the company would build a state-of-the-art facility for wholly owned subsidiary Heartland Pet Food, creating up to 165 jobs and having an economic impact of nearly $150 million.
The formal announcement came four days after officials signed off on documents relating to the deal, which signaled the conclusion of a months-long effort to bring the distribution center to Richmond's Midwest Industrial Park.
Blue Buffalo, which has headquarters in Connecticut, will build a production and distribution facility on 89 acres at 4748 Industries Road. The facility, which will be Blue Buffalo’s second plant in the United States, joining one in Joplin, Mo., will include a pet food manufacturing plant as well as a research and development center.
"This is so exciting for our entire city," Richmond Mayor Dave Snow said. "Blue Buffalo choosing Richmond secures us on a national economic development map and it shows (we are) a viable and competitive force in job growth,"
Company officials were not present at Tuesday's news conference, held at the Whitewater Community Television studios on the Indiana University East campus, but Blue Buffalo founder and chairman Bill Bishop said in a news release the company is eager for the opportunity to locate operations in Richmond.