[A]n Irish company with an infant formula factory in northwestern Vermont is working on a preliminary plan to build an 8-acre factory next to its existing plant.
Perrigo Nutritionals hasn’t applied for any permits or filed any paperwork with the town of Georgia, Town Administrator Mike McCarthy said Tuesday. But on April 9, Ben Heath of Hamilton Consulting Engineers in Essex Junction presented some information about the project to the Georgia Planning Commission.
Heath described a project that would have the company remove 30 acres of trees and build a new structure for manufacturing, research and administrative offices. The company would start tree removal and permitting this fall and winter, with a goal of starting construction on the building in the spring or summer of 2020, Heath told the Planning Commission at a meeting recorded by Lake Champlain Access Television.
“We’re in a very preliminary design phase here, essentially a concept phase,” Heath said. “We wanted to get the conversation started with the town early before we had full-blown design set up so we could collect feedback from the town at the early stage.”
Perrigo’s Vermont plant, formerly owned by Wyeth Nutrition, has been in place for more than 30 years, according to town officials. The publicly traded Perrigo, which has a North American base in Allegan, Michigan, reported net sales of $4.7 billion in its 2018 annual report. The company makes generic prescription drugs, over-the-counter products and baby formula; its largest customer is Walmart, according to the annual report.
Perrigo representatives did not return messages Tuesday.
Stan Bradeen identified himself to the Georgia Planning Commission as the local project manager and said at the April 9 meeting that the new building will serve partly as a replacement for the older one.
“It will expand capacity,” said Bradeen. “There is a market opportunity here for Perrigo; that is a great thing for Perrigo and the longevity of the plant. Even though we’re not planning on expanding much in terms of employment, we’re not losing it. There may be a little increase to meet a larger market.”
Heath said officials at his company had determined there would be no zoning change needed for the project, which is planned for the Georgia Dairy Industrial Park on the southern end of town.
The height of the new building hasn’t been determined, but Heath estimated it will be between 120 and 140 feet — well over the 45 feet allowed by the town. The existing building also exceeds that 45 feet, he said; there is an exemption for building heights in Georgia’s industrial zone.
“It’s not going to be in conformance with current town rules, I can tell you that,” Heath said of the height. “As soon as we know the exact height we’ll have another meeting with the town about that.”
Perrigo’s engineers have already talked to VTrans about how to handle traffic in light of a bridge replacement scheduled for 2020 on Vermont 104. The Planning Commission asked questions about the existing infrastructure on the site and about the disposition of a handful of existing Act 250 state land use permits.
Heath said the company will maintain as much of a tree buffer at the site as possible.
“Our goal is only to cut the amount of trees we need to cut,” he said. “We know very well that the viewshed analysis is going to be a big part of the town’s review of the project and also the Act 250 review.”
Suzanna Brown, chair of the Georgia Planning Commission and a member of the town’s conservation commission, told Heath that one thing planners look for, particularly on a project the size of Perrigo’s, is to maintain some wildlife habitat.
“You speak as if you’re saving a lot of trees,” she said. “I look at it as if you’re taking a lot of trees out.”
Design work will make the impact on the surroundings more clear, Heath said.
“A project of this nature will have review from virtually every regulatory body, from the local to the state and federal level,” he said. “We’re in the very, very preliminary phase here of concept permitting and design.”
Several members of the Perrigo staff attended the April 9 meeting.
McCarthy said he first heard about the project about two months ago, but didn’t have any details.
“We have nothing formal on the record at this time as to the true dimensions of their building,” he said. “They have a lot of property there they can build on.”
According to its annual report, Perrigo’s primary manufacturing facilities are in the U.S., and it also has plants in the U.K., Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Israel, Mexico, and Australia, along with a joint venture in China. It has logistics facilities in the U.S., Israel, Mexico, Australia and Europe.
Perrigo’s baby formula plants are in Ohio and Vermont. In 2013, the company reported in a press release that the Vermont plant is the largest manufacturer of store brand infant formulas in the world, with 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week production. It said the Vermont and Ohio plants together can produce 65 million pounds of powder formula per year for 11 formulas sold to 68 retail chains including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target and Kroger.
