Bisousweet Confections will renovate and purchase equipment for its new 20,000-square-foot facility in Leominster with a $1.25 million loan from MassDevelopment.
The company tripled its sales between 2019 and 2022, and needed to expand its operations. In October 2022 it moved from a 5,000-square-foot facility in Shirley to 554 Willard St. in Leominster where it has added 20 new jobs with the aim of creating 50 full-time jobs over the next five years, according to a Wednesday press release from MassDevelopment.
“We were thrilled to work on our expansion project with MassDevelopment,” Bisousweet Confections Founder and CEO Karen Collins said in the press release. “They were the perfect fit for our company and were supportive, encouraging, and helpful throughout the entire process, from the beginning of the application procedure, meeting with us during the build-out phase, and finally visiting us once we relocated to see our company manufacturing.”
A self-taught pastry chef, Collins founded the company in 2009 and now sells goods to specialty retailers and grocery stores such as Whole Foods, Big Y, The Fresh Market, Wegmans, Roche Brothers, Market Basket, and Shaw’s/Star Market.
The Lexvest Group of Maynard owns both the bakery’s Leominster location and its former location at Phoenix Park in Shirley. MassDevelopment provided the developer with financing for the purchase and improvements of both locations.
MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2022, MassDevelopment financed or managed 356 projects generating investment of more than $1.69 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 11,080 jobs and build or preserve 1,778 housing units, according to the press release.
