McKee Foods Plans USD500m Expansion

American McKee Food Corp. has announced investments of nearly USD500m and the addition of 482 jobs through a series of expansions in Collegedale, Tennessee, over the next 15 years.

In the biggest expansion in the company’s 92-year history, the company said it has plans to more than double the size of its Apison Pike plant and undertake more than USD350m of other improvements and investments at its Collegedale headquarters over the next decade and a half. The additions to the Apison plant, which has already been enlarged three times over its 23-year life, could begin by this summer as the biggest part of the initial USD225m investment projected to add 125 jobs over the next seven years.

McKee Foods is expanding its production of Little Debbie, Drake’s Cakes and other snack cakes. “McKee Foods is very pleased that we are able to bring more jobs and more bakery capacity to our Hamilton County operations. Our family business is blessed to have such deep roots in Southeast Tennessee — a region where thoughtful infrastructure investment is being made while maintaining a keen eye on livability and workability for our employees and surrounding communities,” said Mike McKee, president and CEO and the family-owned company.