Marcus Larson/News-Register ## Crews rebuild the Organic Valley Creamery on Highway 99W in McMinnville, heavily damaged by fire in April 2021. The work is scheduled for completion by July of this year.

Marcus Larson/News-Register ## Construction workers lay new piping along a steel beam lattice structure that will carry milk products around the rebuilt plant.

Marcus Larson/News-Register ## Three 10,000-gallon tanks, prominent landmarks along Highway 99W that were spared from the 2021ire, refinished and repaired.

Creamery rises

Almost a year after the devastating fire that destroyed its McMinnville plant, Organic Valley Creamery is getting ready to resume making powdered milk there.

The first phase of rebuilding is scheduled to be finished by early summer. The creamery plans to bring back another six workers in early- to mid-May, according to Mark Pfeiffer, vice president of internal operations.

They will join about 14 who already are back on the job, bringing the staff to approximately half of what it was before the blaze on April 20, 2021, at 700 N.E. Highway 99W.

Pfeiffer, who often visits the McMinnville site, said cleanup and construction have progressed with amazing speed, especially in light of COVID restrictions and supply-chain problems. Inflation and the need to drive nearly 500 steel pilings to make the site seismically safe, also have slowed things down.

He credited the contractor, Troy Haworth, and his crew, as well as city and McMinnville Water & Light officials who have helped fast-track the project.

“We’re really, really grateful,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s been done so fast and so safely.”

He added, “our mission is saving small, organic farms, and it’s crucial to have that plant there.”

Organic Valley, based in Wisconsin, bought the former Farmers’ Co-op Creamery in McMinnville in 2016 and reopened it as an all-organic facility the following year. About 27 organic farmers in Oregon and several more in Washington are part of the local cooperative, which is Organic Valley’s only plant outside the Midwest.

By 2021, the creamery  was processing about four million pounds of milk a week.

Since the fire, the farmers have mostly sent their milk directly to other plants in Idaho and California. Earlier this year, the McMinnville site began accepting some milk again and sending it on to processors.

In May, member farmers will be able to bring all their milk to McMinnville again. After it’s tested to make sure it doesn’t contain bacteria or additives, they will unload it in the new concrete raw milk receiving area.

The milk will be stored in two 50,000 gallon tanks that remained standing after the fire, along with two new 40,000 gallon tanks. One tank will hold 100% grass-fed milk; another will hold other organic raw milk.

The tanks and new receiving building are part of Phase 1 of the reconstruction.

The timeline for Phase 2 is not yet known, Pfeiffer said. It will include new office space to replace the current temporary trailers and facilities for making stick butter and 50-pound containers of butter, which the plant did prior to the fire. Organic Valley spent several months cleaning up the site after the fire. It also cleaned and refurbished the two large milk tanks, which survived the fire with only minor damage, thanks to firefighters from McMinnville and other local departments, Pfeiffer said.

After reviewing other options, the company announced in October that it would rebuild in McMinnville. Construction has progressed rapidly since then.

When Phase 1 opens in May, it will produce only non-fat, powdered milk. Pfeiffer said the plant will send out 2,000-pound totes filled with dried milk; it won’t yet make 55-pound bags, as it once did.

The giant totes are meant for large customers all over the country that use organic powdered milk for making ice cream or yogurt, or fortifying other products.

Drying milk into powder extends its shelf life, Pfeiffer said.

“It’s a value-added product,” he said.

At its other facilities in the Midwest, the company makes containers of fresh milk, cheese, cream, half & half, cottage cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. Its other sites also produce butter, as it eventually will do again in McMinnville.

Organic Valley also has lines of fresh organic eggs and some meat products, such as bacon, hot dogs and summer sausage.

Lisa Hill, a public relations person for Organic Valley, said she hopes the creamery and its products will be more visible in the community after the reopening. She would like it to take part in the weekly farmers’ market downtown and offer educational activities for children.