Beck’s Hybrids, the nation’s largest family-owned seed company, plans to expand its headquarters, production, research and distribution operations in Hamilton County, Indiana, creating up to 100 new jobs by 2017.

The family-owned and operated business provides farmers with high-yielding corn, soybean, wheat and forage products. Serving farmers across the Midwest, Beck’s Hybrids operates additional Indiana facilities in Sharpsville, West Lafayette and Noblesville with operations also in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Iowa.

The homegrown-Hoosier company will invest $60 million to renovate and equip its current one million square-foot headquarter operation in Atlanta, Ind. The expansion will ease the company’s continued growth, which has been advancing by nearly 20 percent annually for the last 40 years. The expansion, which begins this summer, will take approximately three to four years to complete. The expansion includes research labs, greenhouses, seed processing facilities and equipment, as well as office space designed to better serve farmers.

New construction projects this year include two new 4,000 square-foot greenhouses and the expansion of the biotechnology building. The biotechnology building expansion will provide more office and laboratory space for Beck’s Hybrids and other companies to use for research and product development. The company will also add four machinery storage buildings for trucks and seed equipment. In the next three to four years, the expansion includes an additional soybean seed processing tower that is expected to produce one million bags of seed in the first year. As growth continues, new seed drying and storage facilities will be constructed.

“Over the last few years, we’ve experienced significant growth across our marketing area with new sales territories, new facility locations and new employees,” said Sonny Beck, President of Beck’s Hybrids. “This expansion not only shows our commitment to Midwest farmers, but our long-term partnership with the community, county and state of Indiana.”

Beck’s Hybrids currently employs more than 400 people across the Midwest, including upwards of 290 full-time employees in Indiana.

“Indiana’s economic growth is sprouting from farms across the state,” said Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann. “Here in America’s heartland, growing the food on our tables and building the tools for our world remains a Hoosier specialty. The innovation coming from Beck’s Hybrids melds the two, developing high-performance seeds for our farmers. Through their work, companies like Beck’s Hybrids are creating more jobs and more opportunities for Hoosiers, just part of what helps make Indiana a state that works for business.”

“Hamilton County is pleased to support the expansion of Beck's Hybrids operations at their U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, Indiana,” said Rick McKinney, President of the Hamilton County Council. “We are excited by their continued growth and their decision to invest in Hamilton County. We have supported their previous expansions, which have exceeded projected goals.”

As an incentive, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Beck’s Superior Hybrids, Inc. up to $825,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. In addition, Hamilton County will consider additional property tax abatement at the request of the Hamilton County Alliance.