Pet Food Manufacturer Plans To Bring 270 Jobs To Dubuque

One of the nation’s leading pet food manufacturers plans to invest around $80 million in a Dubuque facility and create more than 270 full-time jobs. Simmons Pet Food, based in Arkansas, plans to buy the former Flexsteel Industries building on Seippel Road by the end of this year. The company proposes hiring 138 workers by the middle of 2021 and increasing that total to 271 full-time employees in the next three years. It also would make a series of sizable investments in order to acquire the building, install equipment and eventually expand the structure. Flexsteel announced in April that it would shut down its Dubuque manufacturing operations, resulting in the loss of more than 200 jobs.