M.D. Stittsworth Co., a family-owned meat market that has been operating for nearly 25 years, is planning a $1.86 million expansion in in Bemidji, Minnesota. The expansion will enable the business to sell its products to wholesalers under the company brand name and private labels.

The company, situated 70 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, expects to add 26 associates in the expansion, which will include a mobile slaughter facility and a new manufacturing and processing plant in the Bemidji Industrial Park. As an incentive, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is supporting the project with a $175,316 grant from the Job Creation Fund. The company will receive the funding after meeting its investment and job creation commitments.

“I thank the Stittsworth family for its continued commitment to Bemidji and the state of Minnesota. This expansion will create good jobs for Minnesotans, and shows how the Minnesota Job Creation Fund can provide homegrown businesses the capital they need to expand,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith. “Our Administration remains committed to securing new resources for the Job Creation Fund this legislative session and supporting job growth across Minnesota.”

Brothers Corey and Clay Stittsworth launched the business in 1993 in a building that began as a neighborhood grocery store in 1899. They focused on making bratwursts in the beginning, but the business eventually expanded to include turkey drumsticks, hot dogs, pepper sticks and other meat products.

Corey’s son, Mychal Stittsworth, who had worked in the store as a teenager, bought the business in 2010. He moved the business to a more prominent location in Bemidji.

“The Stittsworth family has built a successful business with quality meat products, hard work and creative marketing strategies,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “The company’s expansion into the wholesale marketplace is an exciting move that will bring jobs and more business activity to Bemidji.”