FRANKENMUTH, MICH. — The board of directors of Star of the West Milling Co. has approved a “greenfield” flour mill project in Willard, Ohio. Construction on the mill is expected to begin this fall with completion targeted for the fall of 2016. The facility is expected to produce 10,000 cwts of flour per day, with all of the milling capacity dedicated to milling soft red winter wheat.
The mill will have direct access to the CSX railroad to allow inbound wheat shipments and outbound shipments of flour, Star of the West said.
“The site location was chosen to optimize availability of Ohio grown soft red wheat and also to position the facility strategically with our existing customer base,” Star of the West said.
The company said it is expecting to evaluate all of its existing production capacity and rebalance production with customer demand. The company expects to realize a net increase of over 6,000 cwts per day system-wide.
Buhler AG, Uzwil, Switzerland, has provided engineering and product flow design and is expected to provide equipment, electrical, and installation at the mill. Todd & Sargent, Ames, Iowa, has been chosen as the building contractor, and Janotta & Herner, Inc., Monroeville, Ohio, will provide site engineering and preparation as well as a variety of on-site contractor services. The wheat storage contractor has yet to be finalized, the company said.
Headquartered in Frankenmuth, Star of the West has total wheat flour capacity of 25,500 cwts daily. The company’s flour mills are located in Ligonier, Ind.; Frankenmuth and Quincy, Mich.; Churchville, N.Y.; and Kent, Ohio. Additionally, Star of the West owns and operates 12 grain elevators primarily in Michigan with a grain storage capacity of more than 21 million bus. The company also owns four dry edible bean processing facilities, and three retail agricultural operations that include fertilizer, crop protection, custom application and agronomy services.
