The 450,000-square-foot expansion was built on the same property as the company’s Pet Health Nutrition Center, 6573 Ohio 503. The local center is one of two within the company devoted to research.
A spokeswoman for the company said a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the site is set for Thursday.
The company makes and supplies cat and dog foods. According to the company’s careers website, it is hiring in Lewisburg, with some positions offering a $2,500 signing bonus.
At the time, the project was expected to generate $11.5 million in new annual payroll while retaining $5.4 million in existing payroll, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority said.
The authority approved a 1.521%, 10-year job creation tax credit for the project.
“At Royal Canin, everything we do is in service of our purpose: to create a better world for pets. Our investment in the new Ohio manufacturing facility will enable us to meet the ever-growing needs of pets and their owners across North America,” Cecile Coutens, president, Royal Canin North America, said then.
Pet foods producer Iams sold an existing facility to Royal Canin in 2015. The Lewisburg Pet Health and Nutrition Center, a 127-acre site, sits off Interstate 70 in Lewisburg.
P&G closed what was then an Iams plant in Lewisburg in 2011 as part of a corporate reorganization that year.
The Iams story will forever be tied to the late Clay Mathile, a Dayton-area billionaire who died in 2023. Mathile took a leadership post with Iams Pet Food Co., spent weekends handing out pet food samples from the trunk of his car, purchased a 50%-ownership stake, acquired full ownership and sold the business for $2.3 billion to consumer goods powerhouse Procter and Gamble.
In recent years, Ohio has said that its food and agribusiness supports four of the top five pet food manufacturers that have facilities in Ohio, including Nestlé Purina.
Royal Canin was founded by a French veterinarian in 1968.
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