Niagara Bottling to build highly automated facility in Louisiana
The project is expected to help grow the state’s manufacturing sector as the company takes advantage of tax exemptions and workforce development programs.
Beverage manufacturer Niagara Bottling plans to invest up to $160 million to build a highly automated manufacturing facility in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana.
Niagara —which produces bottled beverages such as purified water and teas — said the new, highly automated 500,000-square-foot facility would help meet growing demand with increased efficiency. The company, which has over 40 production sites worldwide, expects construction of the facility to begin in the second quarter of 2023.
Tangipahoa Parish was chosen as the home of the future site due to its “location, logistical support, and potential workforce,” Niagara Bottling Executive Vice President Brian Hess said in a statement.
The new automated facility will create 70 jobs with an average yearly salary of $55,000, according to the release. Additionally, the Louisiana Economic Development estimated it will create 100 indirect jobs in the region.
The Louisiana government offered an incentive package to Niagara to secure the project, including manufacturing tax incentives, $750,000 for site infrastructure improvements and resources from the state’s LED FastStart workforce development program.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the new facility will help grow the state’s food and beverage industry, as well as diversify and strengthen its manufacturing sector.
“Manufacturing jobs have a powerful ripple effect on our economy, so the 170 new job opportunities this project creates will benefit not only Tangipahoa Parish but the entire Southeast Region,” Edwards said in a statement.
Niagara is one of multiple manufacturing companies investing in Louisiana. In October, the state announced Deere & Company was investing approximately $29.8 million to expand operations at the machinery manufacturer’s facility in the southeastern city of Thibodaux.
