Land O’Frost Celebrates New State-of-the-Art Headquarters

Land O’Frost has commenced construction on its new corporate headquarters facility located at 630 Hagburg Drive in Munster, Indiana. A groundbreaking ceremony featured comments by The Honorable Michel Pence, Governor of the State of Indiana, Munster Town President Joseph Simonetto, Land O’Frost’s Chairwoman Donna VanEekeren and President and Chief Executive officer David VanEekeren and was attended by almost 200 local officials and Land O’Frost employees. “We are creating a space that encourages collaboration, supports research and development and will help us attract and retain the best talent in our industry,” says David VanEekeren, president and CEO of Land O’Frost.  “We are confident this new facility will serve as a platform for sustained growth and help us continue to provide innovative meat products to the marketplace for years to come.” Land O’Frost, which currently employs more than 1,100 manufacturing employees at its four production plants, located in Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas and Nebraska, plans to move its headquarters employees into the new building in the fall of 2014. The move will bring 50 new jobs and industry leaders in sales, marketing, innovation, and supply chain operations to the Northwest Indiana region. “On behalf of the people of Indiana, I express my sincerest gratitude and congratulations,” says Governor Pence. “Land O’Frost is just the kind of company we want here in Indiana – in addition to achieving the level of second-largest seller in their market niche, Land O’Frost has also shown a deep commitment to its employees and the communities in which they live around the country.” In addition to housing the Land O’Frost headquarters staff, the new 27,000 square foot facility will include a fully-operational and independent pilot plant and high-tech test kitchen that will help the company continue to develop new and innovative products and recipes faster and more efficiently. The new Land O’Frost headquarters facility includes a sustainable design which positions the structure well for future LEED certification. Green features include:

Land O’Frost’s history with the state of Indiana and Munster dates back to the 1970s when Land O’Frost began operating a turkey processing facility in Hammond, Indiana. During this period of growth, the VanEekeren family, owners of Land O’Frost, lived in Munster from 1970 to 1978. The facility was designed by Wight & Co., a full-service architecture, construction, engineering and environmental firm based in Darien, Illinois.