Grand Re-Opening Ceremony Held for Pacific Seafood’s Warrenton Plant
On August 14, 2018, in Warrenton, Oregon, Pacific Seafood's new Warrenton plant was officially reopened by CEO Frank Dulcich, State Senator Betsy Johnson, and Warrenton Mayor Henry Balensifer. The event was a celebration of the thriving coastal fishing community. The original processing facility, established in 1941 and taken over by Pacific Seafood in 1983, was destroyed by fire in 2013, along with the dock. The facility was Warrenton's largest employer, providing over 100 full-time and up to 100 seasonal jobs. The Warrenton Team of Pacific Seafood, led by General Manager Mike Brown, managed to temporarily move the facility to Astoria in a week, a feat known as "the seven day miracle." Pacific Seafood continued to pay its employees during this period, demonstrating its commitment to its workforce. CEO Dulcich expressed pride in the new state-of-the-art facility, highlighting the significant investment made to ensure the strength of Oregon's seafood industry. The new facility and dock will provide living wage jobs, healthcare, and a profit-sharing retirement benefit for hundreds of team members and their families. It will also provide a market for up to 70 independent commercial fishing vessels to deliver their catch and grow their businesses. Dulcich presented a challenge coin to a group of team members who have been with Pacific Seafood since the fire, a tradition at Pacific Seafood to honor key achievements and events. He also acknowledged the tremendous support from the community, including Senator Johnson, coastal legislators, the governor's office, Business Oregon, former Mayor Kujala, current Mayor Balensifer, and the Warrenton city council. The event ended with the inaugural offloading of Pacific rockfish, one of the species to be processed at the plant, from the F/V Pacific Conquest. Senator Johnson noted that Pacific's investment will help ensure that seafood remains one of the largest contributors to net earnings in Clatsop County. The plant's operations will benefit state and local government, including an estimated $220,000 annually in landing fees to Oregon's Department of Fish & Wildlife. The plant is also a leader in environmental sustainability, using a unique technology to clean waste water while conserving water. Pacific Seafood is the first seafood processing facility on the west coast to use this new, eco-friendly technology. The facility, which operates year-round, is over 78,000 square feet and processes Dungeness crab, steelhead, whiting, and groundfish. It features two-story cold storage, expanded team member amenities with beautiful views, a new sustainable waste water system, and the ability to offload numerous vessels at a time due to multiple cranes. It distributes Oregon caught seafood both nationally and globally, and processes fresh and frozen fillets, H&G, value added, cooked frozen crab, and consumer ready products. It is expected to be BRC certified by the end of the year. Pacific Seafood Group, founded in 1941 by Frank Dulcich, is a family-owned and operated company committed to providing the healthiest protein on the planet. The company, headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon, employs over 3,000 team members across 41 facilities in 11 states.
