Lebanon-based company grows, adds 150 jobs

One man from Lebanon, Ind. knows what it is like to be out of work.

"Devastating, that is all I can say," said Mickey Webster.  "That is all that I knew.  I went from high school to there and then it was like, 'Oh my goodness. What am I going to do?'"

Webster felt the heartbreak of losing a job, and the thrill of finding one.

"I closed a factory and it was a sick feeling, and then to open one it is amazing," said Webster.

Webster was hired on as one of the original 25 employees at Skjodt-Barrett Foods in Lebanon.  The company makes spouted pouches for some big name companies that we are not allowed to tell you.  It was a modest start for Skjodt-Barrett back in November of 2011.

"When I first started there were just two machines, now the company is just growing and multiplying," said Webster.

In just a short amount of time at the company things have changed dramatically.

"This is the new pet rock for infant nutrition," said Skjodt-Barrett Operations Plant Manager Kevin Mooi.  "It has just taken off and we cannot make enough of it."

After starting with 25 employees, Skjodt-Barrett has quadrupled its workforce.  Now the company just announced plans to add 150 more positions.

"We are 24 hours within 70 percent of our customer base," said Mooi.  "It is the right spot, at the right time.  It is right."

Mickey Webster said this is the right time, in the right spot for her too.

"I would not imagine that a place over here in Lebanon, off the interstate, would do something so spectacular worldwide," said Webster.

When the company started its operation in November of last year, it pledged to have 300 people on its staff by the end of 2013.  The company said recently it will have 300 employees on staff by Labor Day, 18 months ahead of schedule.