Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA), a farmer-owned dairy co-op and Certified B Corporation, announced plans to open an ice cream manufacturing facility in Decatur, Ill., in late 2024.

The Decatur facility will be TCCA's first owned and operated manufacturing facility outside of Oregon and will be TCCA's only facility solely dedicated to ice cream production. TCCA also owns and operates two manufacturing facilities in Oregon that are primarily dedicated to cheese production. The Decatur ice cream plant will manufacture Tillamook family-size (48-oz.) ice cream as well as Tillamook foodservice ice cream (3 gal.).

"Consumer demand for Tillamook Ice Cream has grown exponentially over the past several years," says Mike Bever, executive vice president of operations, TCCA. "This new facility is an investment in our continued national expansion plans. We are proud to be able to expand our manufacturing footprint even further as another step toward bringing Tillamook to more fans around the country."

The Decatur plant was previously owned by Prairie Farms, which also used the location for ice cream production until closing the facility in early 2022. TCCA says it will spend the next 18 to 24 months updating the plant to bring it up to TCCA's manufacturing quality standards, with a goal of October 2024 for the first full ice cream production run. The new plant is expected to create approximately 45 new jobs in the Decatur community.

"Tillamook's plans to operate here are very exciting for our community and we are proud that another company has chosen Decatur for their first Midwest facility," says Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe. "This project also advances Neighborhood Revitalization, as the now-empty building along the MLK corridor will again be a bustling part of our economy as soon as next year."

TCCA says it will begin recruiting to fill positions at its new Decatur facility later in 2023 and early in 2024.