When we left off last month it was September of 1969 and the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce had just recognized Ryt-way as its first ever “Industry of the Year.”  It was also on a Sunday in mid 1969 that more than 700 people toured Ryt-way seeing a portion of the operation.

   In November of 1971, Ryt-way’s expansion ways continued with a 7,200 square foot addition to its then 15,000 square foot “Plant 1” building at 801 West Fifth Street in Northfield.  Almost 35 years later, Glenn’s comment at that time was very profound, when he said that “contract packaging seems to be an ongoing principle.”  That comment was followed with additional facility expansions of 7,200 square feet in 1972 and 15,000 square feet in 1974.

   In January of 1981 the piece of Ryt-way business known as “Ryt-way Packaging Corporation Institutional Food Group” became simply “Ryt-way Foods, Inc.” and was relocated to 1000 West Fifth Street in Northfield (slightly to the northwest of then Plant 1) where it officially became Ryt-way’s Plant 2. 

   October of 1981 saw Plant 1’s fourth expansion when another 22,000 square feet was added, which was then quickly followed by Plant 1’s fifth and final expansion of 15,000 square feet in August of 1982. 

   In August of 1985 it was a work force/shift expansion, not building expansion that Ryt-way required, when 120 new employees were hired.  An expansion of 150%!  Like additional space, the addition of more and more employees was a trend that was to continue for Ryt-way for a number of years to come.

   Plants 1 & 2 would not be alone for long, when in January of 1986 it was announced that Ryt-way had purchased what was formally 3M’s Dynacolor facility. The 52,000 square foot facility located at 1407 Armstrong Road in Northfield would be both a packaging plant and home to Ryt-way’s Corporate Offices.  It would be known as Ryt-way Plant 3.  The move into Plant 3 would be completed in August of 1986, and the expansion would require adding approximately 100 more employees to its then population of 300 employees.  Continue the journey next month as we finish the 80’s, move into the 90’s and begin Ryt-way’s Lakeville era.

   From 1986 – 1989, Ryt-way continued to purchase new equipment while perfecting it’s high-speed scaling and volume filling processes to within 1/10^th gram accuracy.  Also during that period of time in 1988, Ryt-way completed the sale of its Plant 1, 801 West Fifth Street to neighbor Malt-O-Meal.  Although the sale was not publicly announced at the time, and although Ryt-way would continue to lease the facility back from Malt-O-Meal over the next seven years, the sale would five years later result in a significant change for Ryt-way when Malt-O-Meal would make a decision to let the lease expire and expand onto the Plant 1 property.
   In November of 1988, Ryt-way announced the purchase of the former Schaper Manufacturing Distribution Center located at 21855 South Cedar Avenue in Lakeville.  By March of 1989 the 200,000 plus square foot “Lakeville Distribution Center” with its ten docks was ready for operation.  Having the new Distribution Center allowed Ryt-way to consolidate several existing warehouse and distribution locations in Rosemount and Northfield.  Glenn Hasse commented at the time that “It’s a lot better to have control of your inventory yourself.”
   The decision to purchase the Lakeville Distribution Center, like the decision to sell Plant 1 to Malt-O-Meal would turn out to be linked down the road, because it was the combination of those two activities that would ultimately lead to the relocation of all of Ryt-way’s packaging facilities to Lakeville.  Interestingly, no one realized that at the time.
   In the fall of 1989 Ryt-way again received public recognition when Governor Rudy Perpich presented the Company with a “Certificate of Commendation” for the Company’s “contribution to the economy of the state.”  The Company had now grown to 1,000 Employees and was the top Employer in Northfield.  At the same time the Company was improving its handling capacity and putting an emphasis on technical expertise.

   In May of 1990, Ryt-way celebrated its 25^th anniversary with a public open house!!!

   Ryt-way had always employed a number of Employees from the Faribault area, and in 1992 the Company made a decision to purchase a 38,000 square foot building across from the Faribault West Mall.  The former “Gopher Shooter” building on Western Avenue would become known as Ryt-way Plant 5.  Ryt-way would soon expand the building another 8,000 square feet and at its peak about 75 Employees would work out of the facility.
   In 1993 Ryt-way made two important decisions.  The first decision was to divide the Company into two separate entities, “Contract Packaging” and “Institutional & Convenience Foods.”  That change allowed the Company to better focus on and provide greater detail to each area.  The second decision was to purchase two buildings in Lakeville’s Airlake Industrial Park.  One building was a 160,000 square-foot facility located adjacent to and just to the west of Ryt-way’s Lakeville Distribution Center.  The building, which was to become Ryt-way’s Plant #6 was, coincidentally, once owned by the same company from which Ryt-way purchased the Lakeville Distribution Center back in 1988.  Now Ryt-way’s 1988 decisions to sell its Plant 1 property in Northfield to Malt-O-Meal and purchase the Warehouse Distribution Center in Lakeville would come together for the good of the whole Company.  Continue the journey next month as we conclude our Ryt-way’s 40 year historical journey.

2005 Equals 40 Years! - Part 4 of the Series