H(OHLY) MOLY! Work on Ohly's forthcoming campus began shortly after the site's sale closed in August. Ohly, a manufacturer of yeast-based and nutritional products under British-based company ABF Ingredients, will see the first phase of the project – a 22,000-square-foot facility, depicted above – complete in 2028. 

ABF Ingredients (ABFI), a British-based company, celebrated the groundbreaking of its new $274 million project – the forthcoming “state-of-the-art facility” of Ohly, one of its subsidiaries – in Eau Claire.

In April this year, the Eau Claire City Council officially approved ABFI’s purchase of a roughly 70-acre site in Eau Claire’s Gateway Northwest Business Park. At the time, the Eau Claire Economic Development Division did not know the exact date of the project’s kickoff, though its overall development is planned to continue through 2035.

While Ohly, a yeast-based and nutritional products manufacturer, shared news of the site's groundbreaking online on Oct. 27, soil-leveling work began after the sale's closing in August. Eau Claire Economic Development Specialist Kendall Williams said the actual groundbreaking occurred in mid-September.

The Ohly site is highlighted in green, located within the Gateway Northwest Business Park near the Chippewa Valley Technical College Manufacturing & Engineering campus. Other businesses part of the business park include Minnesota Wire, FedEx Ground, Perrigo, among others. (Via Eau Claire Economic Development Division)

Just beyond the Ohly site, more construction is underway. Venture Drive is being extended and will lead to the Ohly site and several others, Williams added.

Its groundbreaking marked the beginning of a near decade-long endeavor, which will unfold in three phases. This first phase will result in a 22,000-square-foot “spray drying” facility, slated for completion in May 2028.

“Ohly's first phase is scheduled to be operational by spring 2028 and should (create) about 30 new manufacturing positions,” Williams shared, “All of which will be created in addition to their Boyceville facility's employee count.”

Phase two of the development will result in another 100,000 square feet added before the third and final phase tacks on another 22,000 square feet.

In total, ABFI’s investment will result in about 157,000 square feet of Ohly facilities and create roughly 90-100 jobs.

While not the first ABFI facility in Wisconsin – a smaller Ohly manufacturing facility already operates in Boyceville, about 45 minutes outside Eau Claire – the project, once complete, will serve as Ohly’s North American campus.

Learn more about Ohly online at www.ohly.com. Information regarding ongoing projects in the city of Eau Claire can be found on the Eau Claire Economic Development Division website.