The Amalgamated Sugar Company this year marked the 75th anniversary of its landmark plant in Nampa, Idaho.
More than 200 sugarbeet growers, factory workers and families gathered June 23 at the plant on West Karcher Road to commemorate the special occasion.
“Let’s give ourselves applause for reaching this milestone,” said Duane Grant, Amalgamated board chairman. “We’re looking forward to the next 75 years.”
He also acknowledged the past and the people who started the factory.
“They survived the war and built this factory in 1942,” Grant said. It cost $1,287,511 and was the only beet factory constructed in the United States during World War II.
The factory finished its first production year cutting a total of 192,970 tons of sugarbeets and producing a little more than 553,000 bags of sugar weighing 100 pounds each.
Those numbers pale in comparison to today’s numbers. These days the factory puts out about 2 million pounds of sugar per day for more than 20 different labels.
John McCreedy, Amalgamated president and CEO, said the factory has generated $6.5 billion in revenue and 239 million 100-pound bags of sugar since opening. That equates to slicing 77 million tons of beets.