Traverse City's
Shoreline Fruit has been the subject of a lot of talk already this year, and the latest news is good for not only Shoreline, but the northwest Michigan cherry industry as a whole.
Renaissance Zones are often thought of as developing industrial areas, but in Grand Traverse County, a new one will focus on agricultural processing--specifically, tart cherry products.
Shoreline Fruit requested the zone, which will last 15 years, and allow the company to add jobs, expand its drying and processing facilities, and invest more than $8 million over the next five years. The Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners ended up approving the request this week.
It still needs approval from the state, but one hope from local economic development officials is that the new zone, which offers lower taxes, will help boost the cherry industry, which the area already is known for statewide, into national prominence.
Shoreline has been a leader in that rise to national reputation with several happenings this year, including its CEO, Ken Swanson, being named a Michigan Master Farmer for 2011, and the news of a deal with Nestle to make dried cherries for the candy manufacturer's Cherry Raisinets.
Nels Veliquette, Shoreline's project manager and a member of one of the founding families that own the company, says the company expanded here rather than at its other processing plant in New York state, because there was such a good level of cooperation with state and local officials and agencies.
"This project was pushed ahead by the next generation of growers and owners," says Veliquette. "We will have northern Michigan cherries in every part of the world. To me, that says we've arrived as the cherry capital of the world."
One reason the expansion benefits more than just Shoreline: the company will be allowed to buy up to 5,000 more acres of cherries from other area growers annually. It currently buys more than $6 million of cherries from local growers and processors each year to bulk up its own harvest and fulfill national and international contracts. Shoreline's retail brand is Cherry Bay Orchards.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Nels Veliquette, Shoreline Fruit
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