Colorado Premium, a Greeley, Colo.-based protein processor serving retailers, restaurant chains and private labels worldwide, announced plans to invest $15 million and create 190 jobs in a food processing plant in Carrollton, Ga., by the end of 2018.

“We explored various locations in the Southeast, and this facility was selected due to the overwhelming welcome that we received from the Carroll County and State of Georgia business communities,” says Kevin LaFleur, founder and president. “Our company has been expanding for several years, and this facility allows us to continue that growth well into the future. This location also provides us with a more centralized shipping and distribution point, and that’s a tremendous benefit for our customers.”

This is Colorado Premium’s third major expansion in the past three years. In July 2014, the company acquired Buedel Fine Meats & Provisions and Vlcek Fine Meats, Inc., both Bridgeview, Ill.-based distributors of meats and poultry to restaurants, hotels, casinos and country clubs. In 2016, the company expanded again with the acquisition of National Deli, a branded deli meat company based in Miami, Fla.

Colorado Premium purchased an existing 130,000-square-foot building in Carrollton, and will begin immediately to upgrade the property and install state-of-the-art meat and protein processing equipment. With this acquisition, the company and its subsidiaries will operate five processing facilities and two distribution centers in Colorado, Illinois, Florida and Georgia.