By Sean Bailey / Staff Writer

Thursday was a gloomy day — cold rain fell for hours and the news of an official “recession” was still lingering in the country’s headlines.

But in East Bernstadt, there was a glimmer of economic hope at the grand opening of the Truitt Bros. food processing plant.

The Truitt Bros. plant is at the site of the former Gordon Food Service distribution facility on US 25. Truitt Bros. Inc. spent the last year refurbishing and remodeling the plant.

Truitt Bros. Inc is a family-owned business based in Salem, Ore. that specializes in “shelf stable foods.” In 1973, when brothers David and Peter Truitt started the company, shelf stable foods meant canned fruits and vegetables. Today, the company has expanded into pre-prepared meals, which will be the focus of the company’s East Bernstadt location.

It will be hard to spot the Truitt Bros. product on the shelves of grocery stores because their Truitt name isn’t on the boxes. But the Truitt’s product will be there — Truitt’s customers include ConAgra, Nestle, Del Monte, Healthy Choice and other food industry giants. The East Bernstadt plant will specialize in the production of microwavable and pre-prepared meals.

At Thursday’s grand opening, the Truitt brothers themselves shook hands with visitors as they walked through the newly finished facility’s doors. After speeches from both brothers and General Manager Ron Davis, visitors were treated to some of the facility’s food and a tour of the plant.

One of the tour guides was Operations Manager Bruce McDonald, who led the group through the facility’s refurbished offices and down to the production area where food is cooked and packaged.

McDonald said the East Bernstadt location currently employs 125 people, many of whom are from the area. The plant had been making and packaging food for its customers for about a month before the grand opening, McDonald said, and has only been running one shift so far. In the coming months and years, McDonald said the plant hopes raise its number of employees to around 400.

Bringing jobs to the county and the region in general is what has many people, including Laurel County Judge-Executive Lawrence Kuhl, excited about the new facility.

“We’re very excited about this facility, of course you know the food industry is going to stay with us, we will always need food,” Judge Kuhl said. “And we’re very glad the Truitt brothers and the family have invested in this facility for the region, not only for London and Laurel County, but for the whole region.”

Both Truitt brothers, Peter and David, spoke at the grand opening, and shared how they had received a “warm welcome” from the community. David Truitt also talked about the company’s commitment to the environment and to their workers.

In July, Truitt Bros. held a job fair at the London Community Center. Even with temperatures reaching into the 90s, about 1,100 people showed up for the fair. The Truitt Bros. won’t be able to hire everyone, but Davis said in his speech at Thursday’s grand opening that he is impressed with the area’s workforce.

“I can tell you, I’m so proud of not only the employees that we have here from Salem (Ore.) but also of the new employees that we have hired from here,” Davis said.

“One of our customers asked one of our employees how they liked it here, and she said, ‘you know it’s like a family,’ this is the new employee that’s been here three weeks ... Here in Kentucky, it’s like everybody has known everybody forever. It’s a really warm feeling. You walk around the facility and everybody is laughing, smiling, and everybody is hard working. The work ethic is great and the integrity and respect you get, it’s just a wonderful place to be.”