Brown Eagle, a Louisiana-based logistics solutions firm, is expanding to north Baton Rouge—a move expected create 14 new jobs and invest $8.5 million in improving the former Baton Rouge Beer Agency building on Airline Highway, where the firm will be located.
The 100,000-square-foot north Baton Rouge warehouse will be the site of Brown Eagle’s new bulk solids contract packaging facility, where 18-wheeler trailer loads of pellets, powders and flakes will be packaged.
The 14 new employees would be paid an average salary of $42,000, plus benefits.
In a prepared statement, Brown Eagle CEO Lela Mae Wilkes says her company is proud to supply to the chemical industry, the top provider of jobs in Louisiana’s manufacturing sector that supports more than $79.7 billion in annual sales for businesses in the state.
“Brown Eagle is an entrepreneurial success story whose growth is a positive sign for our region’s business climate,” says Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, which assisted the company with the permitting process for its expansion.
Brown Eagle Warehouse purchased the property from Crescent Crown Distributing last November, according to records filed with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court’s Office.
It will be the second location for the firm, which has operated in East Baton Rouge Parish for nearly 50 years, with its existing office on Dijon Drive in south Baton Rouge. The business is 100% woman-owned, with Wilkes acquiring all of the outstanding shares in August 2014, according to the company’s website.
The announcement comes a little over a month after officials with the Baton Rouge North Economic Development District announced Ready Shield Solutions plans to open an assembly plant also in north Baton Rouge, in the old Cotton’s Holsum Bread Factory on Choctaw Drive. At the time, BRNEDD said the plant was expected to create 300 jobs and called it an economic win for the area.
BRNEDD officials could not be reached for comment before this morning’s deadline.
