NASHVILLE—Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd along with Creative Occasions officials today announced the company will invest $4 million in new capital equipment at its Nashville location. Through this expansion, Creative Occasions, a division of Maplehurst Bakeries, LLC, will create up to 76 new full-time jobs in Davidson County.
“I want to thank Creative Occasions for choosing to reinvest in their Nashville facility and creating these valuable new jobs for our communities,” Boyd said. “We work hard to not only recruit new businesses to Tennessee, but also put an emphasis on supporting our existing companies, ensuring they can take advantage of our state’s business-friendly environment and continue to thrive. I look forward to Creative Occasion’s continued success in our state.”
The purpose of this expansion is to allow for greater capacity of Creative Occasion’s fully finished decorated cake line. This investment will allow the company to effectively double the output of cakes in this facility. High speed mixing capabilities will be added in addition to more ovens. Additionally, a new state-of-the-art semi automated cake decorating line augmented with a cutting edge decorating robot will be installed.
“We are very excited to be able to make this investment in our Nashville facility,” Phil Crow, vice president, general manager of Creative Occasions, North American Frozen Division, said. “Creative Occasions prides itself on high quality cakes and custom cake decorations and our Nashville location has proven to be a great fit for our company in a lot of ways, including an ideal central location and access to a strong workforce. This expansion will only serve to continue our company’s mission of producing only the highest quality of retail bakery cakes.”
Creative Occasions produces and distributes decorated cakes to in-store bakeries and foodservice channels throughout the United States and Canada.
“We’re thrilled to see Creative Occasions adding to its investment in Nashville and creating 76 new jobs here, starting this month,” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. “Creative Occasions is the kind of company that makes our economy tick, and while it ships its cakes to customers all over the United States and Canada, I bet quite a few of them will be enjoyed right here in Nashville, too.”
“TVA and Nashville Electric Service congratulate Creative Occasions on its latest announcement to add jobs and invest in Nashville, Tennessee,” TVA Senior Vice President of Economic Development John Bradley said. “We are pleased to partner with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County, and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce to help existing employers like Creative Occasions continue to add jobs to the community.”
Maplehurst Bakeries acquired Creative Occasions in February 2015. Founded in 1967, Maplehurst Bakeries produces frozen bakery products, including donuts, pies, cupcakes, cake, rye bread, sweet goods and gluten-free baked goods, for in-store and food service bakeries. With products sold in North American grocery retailers, supermarket chains and food service outlets, the company currently operates facilities in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee and Washington. Maplehurst Bakeries currently has more than 1,100 employees across the United States, including more than 105 full-time employees in Tennessee.
In addition to Maplehurst’s Creative Occasions location in Tennessee, Maplehurst Bakeries announced in June 2015 that it was investing $102 million to build a new donut bakery facility in Lebanon, creating 147 new jobs in Wilson County.
Creative Occasions, located at 1605 County Hospital Rd. in Nashville, will begin adding positions in September 2015. Among the openings are positions for decorators, bakers, mixers, warehouse personnel and maintenance. People interested in applying can contact Creative Occasions at 615-742-1270 or 866-FOR-CAKE.
Nashville and Davidson County are represented by Speaker Beth Harwell (R – Nashville), Rep. Bo Mitchell (D – Nashville), Rep. Bill Beck (D – Nashville), Rep. Mike Stewart (D – Nashville), Rep. Jason Powell (D – Nashville), Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D – Nashville), Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D – Nashville), Rep. Harold Love (D – Nashville), Rep. Sherry Jones (D – Nashville), Rep. Darren Jernigan (D – Old Hickory), Sen. Steven Dickerson (R – Nashville), Sen. Ferrell Haile (R – Gallatin), Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D – Nashville) and Sen. Thelma Harper (D – Nashville).
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Tennessee was named 2014 and 2013 “State of the Year” for economic development by Business Facilities magazine. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.
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