McCain to resume work on Othello expansion

OTHELLO — Canada-based potato processing giant McCain Foods announced Wednesday that the company will resume work on its $300 million expansion in Othello this month.

The company halted work earlier this year on the 170,000-square-foot expansion of its Othello potato processing facility, which was announced in October 2019, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a McCain press release.

“It’s great that they broke ground last October, and they were making significant progress,” said Stephen McFadden, executive director of the Adams County Economic Development Council. “It’s good to see them sticking to the plan and getting back to work.”

McFadden said the council labored hard to get McCain to locate the expansion in Othello, which will require the hiring of 180 new employees. The plant currently employs 450 people, according to the McCain press release.

“We like it,” McFadden said of the expansion. “We worked really hard on this project.”

“We are excited to resume construction on the 170,000-square-foot expansion of the Othello plant, where McCain has operated for over 31 years,” said Paolo Picchi, McCain regional vice president for the Americas, in the press release.

Picchi said expansion will increase production capacity through a new state-of-the-art French fry processing line and will require approximately 11,000 additional acres of potatoes, sourced largely from local growers.

The expansion also required the renovation of city water lines and the installation of a wider natural gas line to accommodate the additional demand for McCain’s potato processing lines.

McCain did not announce a revised date when work on the expansion would be completed, but in October 2019, the company estimated completion would be in early 2021. The company is the world’s largest processor or frozen potato products.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at [email protected].