GREATER SACRAMENTO
NEW FACES IN TOWN
Mi Rancho
LOCATION
Elk Grove, Calif.
TYPE OF FACILITY
Manufacturing Facility
NEW POSITIONS
250
(Below)
Manuel Berber, owner and president of Mi
Rancho tortillas, inspects the non-GMO whole
kernel corn sourced from the Sacramento
Valley. This corn is used in the old-world
process known as nixtamalization, in which
whole kernel corn is cooked with water and
lime for 10-12 hours to create fresh masa
and make corn tortillas. This process will be
implemented at the facility at Elk Grove as the
expansion and retrofitting process continues
through 2020.
Mi Rancho tortilla company is working to expand its food manufacturing
operations in the Sacramento region. The company is currently working
with the City of Elk Grove to open a new manufacturing facility and invest
$25 million to retrofit a formerly Bimbo Bakeries-owned property
that closed in 2013.
“We are…growing our business in the northern region, and we expect
lower operating costs as well …” says Joe Santana, vice president
of operations for Mi Rancho. “That combined with excellent assistance
from the City of Elk Grove at every phase of the project has certainly
turned out to be the right decision to expand to this area and specifically
to the City of Elk Grove.”
Mi Rancho is working with the city and a number of local business
development resources to expedite the process of moving into and
commencing operations in its new facility. Those organizations include
the GSEC, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development,
the Sacramento Employment Training Agency, California Human
Development, the Sacramento Region Business Association and the
City of Elk Grove.
In a press release distributed by the City of Elk Grove, Manuel Berber,
owner and president of Mi Rancho, noted that economic incentives
provided by the city, access to skilled labor, and the proximity to the
company’s Bay Area headquarters in San Leandro, California, made Elk
Grove a prime location, and Santana noted that potential access to railroad
service was enticing as well.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MI RANCHO
82 comstocksmag.com | December 2018