Wells CEO and President Liam Killeen said the new plant in Dunkirk will double their output.

The chief executive officer of Wells Enterprises believes Dunkirk is in the right place in the country and has the right people that will help their company grow.

On Tuesday, Wells Enterprises announced plans for the expansion of its Dunkirk manufacturing facility, which will bring more than 200 new jobs to the Dunkirk community. Wells Enterprises President and CEO Liam Killeen gave a one-on-one interview with the OBSERVER to discuss the plans for the company.

“What we are about to do here is build a world class state of the art ice cream manufacturing plant in Dunkirk, New York. The significance of that is that Wells has been consistently growing. … The growth has been really great, and Dunkirk sits inside what is by far the largest ice cream market in the United States — the northeast. So the strategic importance for us to produce here is really there,” he said.

Killeen noted they also have plants in Iowa and Nevada.

The Dunkirk manufacturing facility plays an important role in the company’s expansion plans for its national manufacturing network of its Blue Bunny, Halo Top, Bomb Pop and Blue Ribbon Classics brands.

It’s been a roller coaster of a ride.

Last summer, Wells announced it was shutting down some of its production lines, which meant layoffs by the end of the year. Wells ended up laying off 183 people.

During the interview, Killeen acknowledged the difficult decision that was, but it allowed them to refocus and regroup. “We needed to consolidate our best assets and the team we had here in order to reliably produce the products that we made. A year ago, the conversations weren’t about growth. This opportunity now presents the opportunity to really double the output from this location,” he said.

They worked with the union before announcing the current project. Killeen had only good things to say about the union, noting their partnership and the skilled workforce. “We work with Teamsters 264 and they’ve been good partners. They’ve been on this journey with us. We all want the same here — the ongoing success and development of the business. Certainly we are committed to the long term development here with this facility constructed,” Killeen said.

There are still some building plans and tax assistance approvals needed before construction begins. Killeen hopes to start recruiting the new positions by the end of 2024.

The plans are to tear down the current location and build a new state-of-the-art facility. “It will take us a couple of years to fully install all of the lines we intend to install for that building. From the end of 2025 to ’27, we think at least 200 new jobs created,” he said.

The company currently has around 400 employees at the Dunkirk plant. “We will double the business with about 50% more (staff),” he said.

In Dunkirk, Killeen said they’ve largely made hand held ice cream products and that will continue, as well as making ice cream in containers to be scooped. “We will actually make a full range of products at this location in the future,” he said.

Even though the current factory will be taken down as the new one is constructed, Killeen said operations will continue. “We plan to stay in operation of our current form, right through the commissioning of the first line, which we expect to go live at the end of ’25, and then we will go step-by-step to start to transition our team over to the new facility.” he said.