Article: Banking on berries; New Craisin factory could boost Wisconsin Rapids

For seven years, the residents of Wisconsin Rapids have watched the city's job market shrink as the paper mills that dominated the area economy slashed their payrolls.

But as Ocean Spray breaks ground today on the construction of a $50 million dried cranberry factory, city officials are hoping for the start of a new chapter of economic growth.

"This is the push we needed to fully get our arms around a redirection," said Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Mary Jo Carson.

The factory is scheduled to be completed in September 2008 and will produce Craisins, Ocean Spray's line of dried, sweetened cranberries. It is expected to employ about 50 workers and may add another 50 in a future expansion.

Since 2000, ...

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