Shearer’s Foods plans to make potato chips at the former Fleming Foods site in Perry Township, but has asked the city to annex the property and run wastewater sewage lines to it first.
The Brewster-based Shearer’s said the city was its last hope before it explores moving 700 jobs out of the county and possibly the state.
Shearer’s is “maxed out” at its current location, said Chief Executive Officer Robert Shearer, and needs room to meet rapid growth. Neither Brewster nor Navarre, which provides wastewater services to the Prophecy Massillon site, can handle the capacity needed by the food maker, Shearer said.
Earlier this year, Shearer’s opened a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lubbock, Texas. It employs 85 workers there, but plans to expand to 250 in the next 18 months
