May 20—MANCHESTER — State and local officials gathered on Friday to celebrate the grand opening of Manchester Barbecue Pellets' new manufacturing facility at the old farmers co-op building.

The historic brick building at 46 Apel Place formerly operated as a farmer-owned factory that produced pelletized animal food. It will now be used to make hardwood barbecue pellets for use in pellet grills.

Scott Licamele, the president of Manchester Barbecue Pellets, estimated that the company would create about 25 manufacturing jobs over the next year, with an end goal of creating 30 to 40 jobs total.

"Food brings people together, but barbecue brings Americans together," Michael Licamele, Scott's brother and company co-founder, said. "We want to be part of that journey."

The large blue, barn-style building was part of the larger co-op property, a set of five industrial buildings and three silos. The adjoining property, with a building known as the old opera house, was used as the co-op's farmstead. Both properties were run by the Central Connecticut Cooperative Farmers Association before it closed in 2016.

Manchester Barbecue Pellets acquired the former animal feed mill building in 2017, and sought to restore and repurpose the abandoned mill that is located near the intersection of Oakland and Woodbridge streets.

Company executives were joined by state and local officials for Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Paul Lavoie, the chief manufacturing officer for the state's Department of Economic Community Development, welcomed the company to Connecticut's manufacturing family. In addition to job creation, Lavoie said, the business would benefit the forestry industry by using raw materials — such as hickory, oak, and maple — and turning it into a product that people can enjoy.

"There's nothing else like this in the state," Lavoie said.

Mayor Jay Moran thanked the company for salvaging the property and rekindling the town's deep roots in the mill industry.

"Every time someone flips a burger they'll think of this great city of village charm," Moran said.

Director of Planning and Economic Development Gary Anderson said the new facility "checks all the boxes" for the town because it repurposes a vacant building and provides sustainable jobs.

After the co-op closed, the town was worried it wouldn't be able to fill the large empty industrial buildings, Anderson said. But on Friday, officials rejoiced in the project coming to fruition.

Michael Licamele, who had proposed a development plan for the Manchester Parkade, had said that his development company, MSL Group Inc., was looking for a place to manufacture wood pellets, which can be used in wood stoves. When his team came across the co-op and opera house properties, they were immediately interested, he said.

Licamele said the ground floor of the old opera house will still be used for commercial space, with two tenants — a gourmet dog treat company and high-end tattoo parlor — set to move into the building. The first floor will serve as office space for Manchester Barbecue pellets.

Licamele added that he hasn't yet determined what will go in the opera house's upper floors, which at one time had been pegged for apartment units.

After the ceremony, Scott Licamele gave spectators a tour inside the facility, describing the intricate processes of how the wood pellets are produced.

The company received favorable testimony from Jonathon Shivick, who owns a barbecue restaurant in Hartford called The Portly Pig. Shivick said his restaurant has cooked with the wood pellets for about a month and a half, yielding fuller flavor and a better "smoke" than most other products.

"The difference is night and day," Shivick said. "The food is so much improved using their product over anything else we've used before."