Snyder's-Lance Gains Incentives for Major Expansion in Charlotte

Snyder's-Lance’s $38-million expansion at its facilities in Charlotte, N.C., which includes adding more than 130 production and offices jobs, was approved Monday, Nov. 28, by the city of Charlotte. Most of the additional jobs will go to the company’s South Boulevard manufacturing facility, which currently has 900 workers. The rest will go to the Ballantyne, N.C., headquarters, according to city council reports. State and other inducements boost the total value of the incentives to $1.9 million according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

Snyder's-Lance saw third-quarter revenue from sales rise 41 percent this year over 2015 figures, reportedly due mainly to the company's acquisition of Diamond Foods. But Snyder’s-Lance also announced it would sell the Diamond Foods culinary nuts business that it just bought in February. The Charlotte Business Journal reports the sale will go to Blue Road Capital, a New York buyout specialist firm, at an disclosed price. Snyder's-Lance is selling Diamond Foods to focus on core snack-food brands and to reduce its debt to three times coverage by the end of next year.

Snyder’s-Lance announced that it picked Charlotte over Columbus, Ga. and Stockton, Calif., for the additional jobs. Both of those cities incorporate major manufacturing centers for companies it recently bought. Tom’s Foods Inc. was based in Columbus and Diamond Foods was based in Stockton.

The company says the deal should close around the end of the year.