Kraft seeks tax breaks for $114 million Columbia expansion

Kraft Heinz is planning a 25,000-square-foot expansion of its Oscar Mayer hot dog plant in Columbia, and the food giant is seeking a 75 percent tax break over 10 years for the $114 million project.

The plant, officially called Columbia Foods, currently employs about 500 people across 400 full-time equivalencies. The facility upgrade would include the automation of some processes, which could cut staffing to 400 employees and 350 full-time positions. But Kraft Heinz and regional economic development officials say the upgrades are necessary to keep those few hundred jobs — and the taxes they generate — in the area.

Read more from the Columbia Missourian and the St. Louis Business Journal