April 13, 2009

Five Star Custom Foods said it has acquired and plans to covert a former food service distribution building in Nashville to a manufacturing plant by late fall. The Nashville facility will be the second for the company, which is expanding in the Southeast and handles production now at a Fort Worth, Texas, plant that employs 250. Five Star produces meat products and sauces for branded food manufacturers and food service operators.

The company’s first facility outside of Texas initially will employ 70 to 100 people including material handlers, maintenance mechanics and production workers. Employment should reach 250 within three years. The expansion will represent a $20 million investment over the three-year period.

“Nashville is a vibrant, forward thinking community with a pro-business attitude,” Five Star President Jeff Bledsoe says in a release. “Logistically, the Nashville location is geographically advantageous for both raw material acquisition and finished product customer shipments.” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says the investment is a signal of Nashville’s continuing economic growth.

“We are very pleased and grateful that an industry leader such as Five Star Custom Foods recognizes that Nashville offers them both an ideal location for their second plant operation and a quality work force that will allow them to build on their success in the food processing industry,” Dean says.