Mar. 23—A multi-state search by an organic foods manufacturer has ended in Wilson County.

“The general business support we received was the best of anywhere we met with,” Bridgetown Natural Foods CEO Dan Klock said.

The expansion of Bridgetown Natural Foods from Oregon to Tennessee represents a $78 million investment and the creation of 219 full-time jobs in Wilson County. Operations will begin in July.

An existing 300,000 square foot facility — located at 8051 East Gate Blvd. — leased by Bridgetown Natural Foods — will produce 100 million pounds of food annually. The facility marks the first expansion of the company outside of Oregon.

“It will better support our customers by getting a strategic location in the eastern part of the United States,” Klock said.

Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto was excited about the addition of Bridgetown Natural Foods to Wilson County.

“We think about Wilson County as the second healthiest county in the state of Tennessee, and this is a great product for being able to make our people healthier, and we’re excited about that product that you’re bringing here,” Hutto said.

During its search, Bridgetown Natural Foods considered other locations.

“We looked at eight different states,” Klock said. “We went through a process of meeting with economic development folks at the state and local level, looking at different sites, trying to learn a little bit more about the community. We spent a week here looking at different buildings. We spent some time with the state and local representatives.”

The hiring process for the new location will begin in about four weeks.

“We’re going to do full-time positions,” Klock said. “We don’t do a lot of part-time. We’ve hired a couple of members of the leadership team already and then we’ll be hiring production operators, mechanics, sanitation folks, body technicians, and all the factory team.”

Bridgetown Natural Foods was launched in 2010 in Portland, Oregon, after Klock’s wife Kelly had started her own brand, Bear Naked.

“As we grew, we realized that there weren’t a lot of people out there building manufacturing to help natural and organic foods companies grow,” Klock said. “We believed that natural organic foods were things people wanted. After we got through our Bear Naked journey, we said we should build a factory that would enable other entrepreneurs and people with ideas to launch natural and organic food products to grow.”