Cass County’s operation is considered the first in the nation, and the Vireo Resource campus is still growing.
PLUTTSMUT, Nebraska — Vireo Systems made a splash in Nebraska about 15 years ago with a handful of employees and a single commercial space in the city’s FourMile industrial park.
Within five years, a Tennessee company developing healthy products for people and pets expanded into a nearby field and built its own facility.
Vireo’s latest growth now comes with the addition of a $16.6 million campus, which can be said to put the company and this community of about 6,500 residents on the energy supplement map of the world.
The structure is said to be the first creatine manufacturing plant in the US – home to Vireo’s patented muscle-building drug CON-CRET.
“We are very excited,” said Plattsmouth Mayor Paul Lambert. “They started with one bay in the mall, then they went up to two, then to three, then they built their smaller building, and then this big extension.”
More growth ahead
Another facility is due to begin in the next few months, Vireo CEO Mark Faulkner told the Nebraska Examiner. He said it would increase the total local manufacturing space to over 70,000 square feet.
Thanks to a recent $1 million federal award distributed by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Vireo is helping to keep the economic engine running in this area of Cass County south of Omaha, which is still recovering from the historic 2019 floods, according to Plattsmouth City Administrator Emily Bausch. .
Vireo’s latest expansion is expected to create 200 new jobs in the coming years and generate an annual economic impact of $174 million, company officials say. The company currently employs about 50 local workers.
Data on economic impact and labor demand were not available for the next phase of growth. The spokesperson said the future manufacturing structure should focus on holistic feminine hygiene products.
New job expectations have spurred activity in areas such as housing, Bausch and Lambert said.
Underway, for example, is a “famous project” to renovate an old high school near Eighth and Main Streets into 40 housing units for labor rental. Bausch said the $10.3 million transformation, funded in large part by low-income housing tax credits, is especially important for local families as it maintains a structure steeped in nostalgic memories.
“People look at this building and say: “I was in the sixth grade there. I did it in science class.” “
Resilience after the flood
Adjacent to the school, the former Blue Devil Stadium will become a townhouse-style mixed-use residential and commercial development.
Another multi-family project under construction near Highway 75 and U.S. First Avenue is one of the few assisted by state tax increase funding, a state-wide tool that allows future property tax revenue generated from new construction to go toward paying eligible costs. for reconstruction for up to 20 years.
“When we see some of these projects come to fruition…even though we are still recovering from one of the biggest disasters, it shows the resilience of our community,” Bausch said.
Also, she said, about $100 million in public infrastructure projects are underway in response to the devastating floods of 2019, which, among other things, disabled both the city’s water and sewer stations.
Faulkner said his company chose Plattsmouth for expansion in large part because of the support from the mayor and his team and their help in finding resources and programs to accelerate the company’s growth.
Creatine Reactor
The City of Plattsmouth granted Vireo the land. Other city and state incentives include a $75,000 job-creation-based grant and $28,000 job training assistance to train nutraceutical manufacturing technicians.
A more recent $1 million award from the state came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development block grant program. The funding helped pay for the creatine reactor.
Previously, according to Faulkner, Vireo had to import creatine from overseas and process it locally to make sure it met the brand’s expectations. By building a plant in Plattsmouth, he said, the company will be able to better control quality, the supply chain and costs.
It shows the resilience of our community.
— Emily Bausch, Plattsmouth City Administrator.
He said the Plattsmouth plant comes as the Vireo CON-CRET brand (a name that goes back to concentrated creatine) expands distribution and availability at Walmart stores across the country.
Muscles, brain, sexual well-being
The approximately 32,000-square-foot new facility is adjacent to the company’s existing 10,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on a 10-acre campus west of U.S. Route 75 at Wiles Road.
Operation Plattsmouth is known as Vireo Resources and is a subsidiary of mother ship Vireo Systems headquartered in the Nashville area.
Last week, CEO Faulkner joined the local authorities in Plattsmouth for a ceremony to mark the plant’s upcoming reopening after the last pieces of equipment arrived.
“Vireo is investing in this plant and our CON-CRET brand because concentrated creatine is arguably the most important supplement a person can take to support their overall health and fitness,” said Faulkner. “Being the first and only domestically produced creatine is in line with our mission to create innovative and evidence-based products that everyone needs for health and wellness.”
Creatine is an amino acid found naturally in the body’s muscles, brain, and some foods. According to Vireo, creatine supplementation can help improve athletic performance and improve energy, immunity, sexual well-being, and brain function.
‘Hand in Glove’
Nebraska’s appeal to the company stems in part from Vireo’s collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The medical center’s experts played a key role in Vireo’s scientific advisory board, which contributed greatly to the company’s progress, products and patents.
Faulkner said it was the UNMC contact that initially put him in touch with Nebraska’s economic development officials.
Mayor Lambert said he is committed to further job creation, which he says goes hand in hand with new housing options that will allow workers to live in the community rather than commuting from Omaha and other cities.
“We want them to be close to their work, in our community,” the mayor said. “It’s working really well, and of course it’s good for the retail community in Plattsmouth.”
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