Martin-Brower Co. To Build $16M Food Distribution Facility In Walker

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

The Martin-Brower Co., a division of Reyes Holdings, is expanding in Louisiana. Last week, the company announced that it plans to build a $16 million food distribution facility in Walker, La. The project will retain 160 existing jobs and will create more than 50 direct and indirect jobs.

Martin Brower has operated a food distribution complex in the city of Port Allen since 1979. Over time, as the company continued to grow, space and rail access limitations forced it to look for a new site. In a news release, Martin Brower said that it started its search near its existing site, in West Baton Rouge Parish, but it also explored other options, in Louisiana and Mississippi. Finally, the company decided to choose the Livingston Industrial Park as the home of its new food distribution hub.

The state of Louisiana worked together with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Louisiana Economic Development, and the Livingston Economic Development Council to secure the project. It offered Martin Brower a competitive incentive package, which includes a $1.2 million grant from the Economic Development Award Program, to help with infrastructure-related improvements at the Livingston Industrial Park.

The new distribution complex will be developed on a 22-acre site, just east of Walker, along U.S. 190. Martin Brower expects construction to take between nine and 12 months. The project will generate 150 to 200 construction jobs. It will allow Martin Brower to retain 160 existing jobs and to create 30 new jobs, which, according to LED, will provide an additional $1.3 million in new annual payroll by 2020. LED also expects the $16 million project to create 26 new indirect jobs.