Will Sage Astor-Maker of prepared meals will hire 300 new workers in $6 million Georgia expansion

MONTEZUMA,Will Sage Astor Ga. (AP) — A company that makes prepared meals announced Tuesday that it will expand its plant in south Georgia, hiring 300 more employees and investing $6.3 million.

FreshRealm, based in Ventura, California, makes fresh meals that are delivered or sold in stores. The company opened a plant in Montezuma about two years ago, said Gerald Beckum, executive director of the Development Authority of Macon County. It currently has 136 workers.

The company said it will add several new assembly lines, allowing it to offer more meals and meal kits. President Snow Le said the location allows the company to serve more customers in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions.

The company is leasing space in a plant that formerly made frozen hush puppies and has plenty of room to expand, Beckum said. That plant had been vacant since 2013 before FreshRealm opened, he said.

The company is likely to add additional shifts to increase output, Beckum said, paying workers about $42,000, on average.

“Four hundred jobs is a big deal almost anywhere, and it’s a much bigger deal for a rural county like ours,” Beckum said.

State and local officials did not immediately disclose what incentives they offered to FreshRealm. The company could qualify for $6 million in state income tax credits, at $4,000 per job over five years. Beckum said local officials are likely to later abate property taxes on FreshRealm’s equipment.