Leprino cheese plant nears construction start

GREELEY – After almost two years of little visible progress, construction at Leprino Food Co.’s mozzarella cheese factory is expected to begin next month.

Site preparation on the 96-acre parcel just east of downtown Greeley has been under way for several months, with heavy equipment reconfiguring the site once occupied by the Great Western Sugar Co. Initial work included mixing lime deposits from decades of sugar beet processing operations – estimated at 700,000 square yards – into dirt for leveling and reshaping the property.

“(Leprino) had to demonstrate to the state that the dirt-lime mix was suitable for building…