Hope Baking Co. Plans $37M Expansion, 266 New Jobs

A Google Street View image of the Hope Baking Co. facility in 2022 (© Google)

A $37 million expansion of Hope Baking Co.’s manufacturing facility in Hope is underway, the company announced Thursday.

The project is expected to create 266 jobs over two years. It began after Hope Baking Co.’s parent company, East Baking Co. of Holyoke, Massachusetts, acquired the former Southern Bakeries LLC facility in March 2023.

The company has added a new production line to the plant, which was built in the 1960s, but does not expect the 171,000-SF facility’s physical footprint to increase.

East Baking is not targeting a specific completion date for the expansion. It views the project as part of a five-year growth plan.

“We’re excited to see a local business expand,” Mayor Don Still said in a statement. “We’re glad Hope Baking Company believes in investing in our community. Our bakery has been a stable business in our community for many years. Again, we’re always excited for new businesses to come to Hope, but we’re just as excited to see an existing one grow.”

East Baking, founded in 2003, manufactures and distributes a range of bakery products, including individually wrapped, bulk packed, bagged, boxed, and chip boarded products. The Hope Baking facility will produce breadsticks, English muffins, fully baked breads, and seasonal brown and serve rolls.

“Hope Baking Company is excited to be reinvigorating the operation of the bakery and equipment located in Hope, Arkansas and looks forward to steady expansion of its employment count,” Dan Serra, owner of Hope Baking Co., said in a statement.

The project qualified for the following state incentives: the Tax Back program, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery, and five years of the Create Rebate program, an annual cash rebate based on the number of jobs added by a company and targeted wages.