Ribbon Cutting At Hagerstown Purina Mill
HAGERSTOWN, Md. A
ribbon cutting ceremony was held
here Friday evening to celebrate
the opening of the new Purina
mill. Dave Abbott, president and
CEO of Purina Mills, Inc. flew in
from St Louis for the ceremony,
and other company officials and a
representative from the Maryland
Department of Agriculture were
on hand to officially cut the ribbon
for the new totally automated bulk
plant
Abbott said it was easy to sup
port the proposed mill when it was
in the planning stages. “The board
supported the Hagerstown mill be
cause of the tremendous record of
growth, achievement and tre
mendous record of delivering the
results that have been promised,”
by Putina’s Eastern region. “We
see tremendous opportunities in
agriculture in the U.S., in the pro
duction of meat milk, and eggs, as
well as the companion animal
aspect that is so popular in this
area,” Abbott said.
Association Announces State
ULSTER (Bradford A social hour at the Small Arena
Co.) The 1997 Pennsylvania is to precede the sale. Catalogs are
Fall Ayrshire Sale Is set to be held to be available at the sale and show
Monday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m„ in ring, or upon request
the Small Arena of the state Farm The auctioneer is to be Bo
Show Complex in Harrisburg in Elliott of Towanda. Pedigrees are
conjunction with the Pennsylvania to be read by Howard Hammond
All American Dairy Show mof Cony.
(PAADS). For more information, or to
Kurt Loudenback, division
sales manager for the Eastern divi
sion, cited the business communi
ty’s accommodation as a main
factor in electing to build the plant
in Hagerstown. “They really
rolled out the welcome mat” he
said. The town is also a crossroads
for major East West North, and
South interstate and rail traffic,
and offered strong customer de
mand and large numbers of com
mercial livestock, said Louden
back.
Robert Hopkins, manager of
product registration for the Mary
land Department of Agriculture,
extended a warm welcome to Pur
ina. “The Maryland slogan is
‘Maryland With Pride,’ and to
night Maryland is bursting with
pride to welcome Purina to
Hagerstown,” said Hopkins.
With a total of 11 employees,
the plant will be almost complete
ly automated, from the receiving
area set up to handle rail and truck
unloading, to the load-out facility
that can bulk load 75 dry tent per
hour. A six-ton batch mixer, capa
ble of mixing 12 to IS batches per
hour, and a hilly automated pellet
mill capable of pelleting 12 to 16
tons per hour highlight the inner
workings of the plant Production
capacity is currently 5,000 tons
per month, but space was left next
to the pellet mill for another iden
tical unit to be installed at some
point in the future, said Larry Bel
luscio, division sales manager for
the Eastern region.
Built by the T.E. Ibberson Cq,
from Hopkins. Minnesota, con
struction of the plant took ap
proximately 18 months from the
time ground was broken. The mill
officially opened on June 1, and
the first load of feed went out on
the 6th.
The Hagerstown plant is strictly
a bulk manufacturing facility, said
Belluscio. The bag plant will still
be in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania,
and all support services including
sales, order entry, and customer
service.
Ayrshire Sale
request a catalog, contact the sale
manager, Ben Hillyard of Ulster at
(717) 596-4371.
Dave Abbott, center, president and CEO of Purina Mills,
Inc. cuts the ribbon at the new Purina mill in Hagerstown. On
the left Is Robert Hopkins representing the Maryland De
partment of Agriculture, and on the right Is John Zerbe, vice
president of Purina Mills, Inc. Eastern region.