This story was originally published in St. Louis Business Journal on October 14, 2016.
By Diana Barr| bizjournals.com/stlouis
While St. Louis bemoans the loss of public company headquarters over the years, the pet food industry is one sector that has thrown the region a bone.
In the past 18 months, two pet food companies have relocated here, three have made major acquisitions and several more have beefed up their workforce to accommodate expansion. Industry growth is driving job growth: About 65 percent of households nationwide own a pet, and U.S. pet food sales alone are expected to grow to $24.01 billion this year, up from $23.05 billion last year, according to the American Pet Products Association. The St. Louis region’s employment in animal food manufacturing has grown an average of over 3 percent a year over the last five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…
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