Werner Meats snack provider expands facility

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TILLAMOOK In a recent press release announcing employee layoffs, the Tilllamook County Creamery Association said the difficulties of distributing products from its Tillamook plant was a factor in eliminating jobs in its packaging department.   

Shipping from rural, coastal Oregon can be expensive.  

Which is something Ken Werner, owner of Tillamook-based Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks, knows well.

The points we ship to on the East Coast are much farther away for us than they are for a plant thats located in the Midwest. said Werner.  

Still, he said, This is where I was born, this is where I live and this is where my business is going to be. We just try to overcome the disadvantages due to our location.  

Werner recently demonstrated his commitment to the north coast by expanding his Tillamook production facility.   

Werner employs about 70 workers and said the companys recent expansion likely will add 10 to 15 jobs over the next year. That number could increase to 20 to 40 new jobs over the next four to six years.   

This is the fifth time Werner has expanded his production facility since starting his company in 1993.  

Despite the down economy, Werners Gourmet Meat Snacks has been able to grow by expanding into new markets. Thats in large part because, he said, the quality and variety of his products appeal to a wide variety of vendors.  

You get a customer who has got to buy this segment of their product line from this manufacturer and another segment of their line from another manufacturer. If they can combine that with one manufacturer, then its easier for them to meet minimums and get volume discounts.  

In addition to producing a variety of jerky products, Werners has been retailing nut, candy and trail-mix products since 2006.   

Prior to the recent expansion, Werners was leasing space from the Port of Tillamook Bay for its packaging and nut-roasting operation. Now, having built a new 26,000-square-foot facility, the increased production area will allow Werners to bring all of its packaging and roasting operations under one roof.

This will allow us to continue growing. said Werner.

The new warehouse gives us the extra space we need to store goods; the new production area allows us to put in additional packaging lines.

Werner said the expansion should give the company room to grow as demand increases. He estimates the expansion should give the business enough room for the next five to 10 years.   

Whenever a business expands, its good for the county, said Dan Biggs, director of the Economic Development Council and Small Business Development Center in Tillamook.  

Warners expansion recently earned the company the Business Project of the Year award from the Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce.