EAGLE, IDAHO — ConAgra Foods, Inc. said it will invest more than $200 million to expand potato processing operations at its Lamb Weston facility in Richland, Wash. The expansion includes the addition of a French fry processing line.
ConAgra said construction on the new processing line will begin immediately and likely will be completed by the fall of 2017. Upon completion, the added line will increase annual processing capacity by more than 300 million lbs and will add 128 full-time positions.
Already employing approximately 4,500 workers, Lamb Weston is one of the largest employers in the Columbia Basin.
This is the second major capital investment project announced by ConAgra for its Lamb Weston business in the past several months. In March, the company said it would invest $30 million to expand its Lamb Weston business operations at the Boardman, Ore., facility.
The investment in Boardman will add additional processing capacity for production of formed offerings such as hash brown patties and potato puffs. Construction on the processing line, which will increase processing capacity by approximately 50 million lbs, is expected to be complete in 2017. Once complete, the new line is expected to add 50 jobs.
