Leprino to bring jobs, more cheese to Lubbock
A planned cheese factory in east Lubbock that's expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the Hub City economy - and a million pounds of mozzarella to the global supply chain every day - became a step closer to reality this week.
Officials from the city of Lubbock, Lubbock County, Texas Tech and other community leaders joined representatives from Leprino Foods at a groundbreaking ceremony for the company's long-touted mozzarella factory Wednesday along East 19th Street east of Loop 289.
That comes after the City Council approved an industrial tax abatement agreement back in April.
The 100 percent abatement on the building and personal property is estimated at $2.19 million per year, or $21.9 million over the 10-year term of the agreement, the Avalanche-Journal reported at the time.
The 850,000-square-foot facility is expected to bring 600 new jobs to the city by 2025 and produce one million pounds of cheese per day, Gov. Greg Abbott said during a ceremony announcing the development last fall.
This represents the largest single private capital investment announced since LEDA’s inception and the 12th largest private capital investment project in Texas since the establishment of the Texas Enterprise Fund in 2003, according to a statement from the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance.
The economic impact of having a project of this magnitude in the community is far reaching, John Osborne, president and CEO of LEDA, said during a forum in November.
The company will be providing high-paying jobs and economic opportunities to the residents of East Lubbock and give our graduates another reason to stay in Lubbock, Osborne said at the time.
During the forum, Osborne said opportunities that have been created in Lubbock in 2021 alone promise a bright future with growth.
“This kind of growth does not happen overnight, this is a result of the decades of hard work, vision and leadership to build this future,” Osborne said.
Osborne added that Lubbock businesses had added 5,000 new jobs in the past year, with sales tax collections going up over 9% year over year.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Leprino to bring jobs, more cheese to Lubbock
