Scottsville’s Smucker Connection
The Kentucky Plant Was the First Dedicated to the Uncrustables Brand
Story by Jen Calhoun
Nearly every time Joe Aiken walks into the grocery store wearing his company’s brand logo, he gets stopped.
“I’ll hear something like, ‘Hey, my uncle works there,’ or ‘My mom used to work there,’” says Aiken, plant manager of The J.M. Smucker Company’s Scottsville location. “There are a couple of generations of families that work here or have worked here, so it’s interesting to see how much influence there is in the community.”
The J.M. Smucker plant in Scottsville was the first in the country dedicated to making Uncrustables, the company’s frozen, crust-free sandwich.
The 180,000-square-foot manufacturing facility opened in 2004 with an initial workforce of about 225 employees. It became the first Smucker plant dedicated to the Uncrustables brand— prepackaged, frozen, crust-free sandwiches filled with peanut butter and jelly and other popular spreads.
Since opening, the facility has expanded by at least 80,000 square feet, and it now employs more than 500 people. In addition, Smucker added 2 more plants dedicated to making Uncrustables – 1 in Longmont, Colorado, and another in McCalla, Alabama.
A primary reason for the sandwiches’ widespread appeal is the Scottsville plant and its employees. “Really, the genesis of the popularity of Uncrustables and the initial push is because of the Scottsville employees and everything they’ve done,” Aiken says. “For years, we couldn’t meet the demand for the product because it was so popular. Our ability to get it into households and establish the brand is because of the Scottsville team and their hard work.”
The relationship between the company and the community is mutually beneficial, says Scottsville Mayor David Burch. “Their reliable employment record creates a reassuring sense of economic stability in our community,” he says.
With a Name Like Smucker’s
The J.M. Smucker Company got its start in 1897 in Orrville, Ohio, when Jerome Monroe Smucker started selling apple butter out of a horse-drawn wagon.
The Smucker company continued to grow and expand over the 20th century by shipping its products across the country and building new facilities. It went public in the late 1950s, but it’s still family-run. It’s currently in its fifth generation of family leadership, Aiken says. Today, Smucker still makes and sells apple butter along with many other products, including Smucker’s fruit spreads, Jif peanut butter, Folgers and Dunkin’ coffees, Hostess baked goods and pet food products like Milk-Bone and Meow Mix, to name a few.
NCTC’s Broadband Ingredient
A silo at the Scottsville Smucker plant shows off its Uncrustables brand logo.
When the Scottsville plant was initially built, fiber-powered broadband networks weren’t available throughout the country the way they are now. Today, they’re an important part of the nation’s infrastructure.
Thanks to NCTC, the people and businesses of Scottsville were able to access ultrahigh-speed fiber broadband service before their counterparts in much larger cities. That access helped companies like Smucker stay connected.
“We certainly rely on communication with our employees, and we use the internet to communicate externally, as well,” Aiken says.
Burch says the quality of the internet service in Scottsville is the top question asked by businesses and people interested in moving to the city. “Our high-speed internet is the envy of other communities,” the mayor says.
Because of NCTC, 98% of Allen County residents have access to broadband, making it 1 of the top-ranked counties in the state, says Burch, quoting the statistic from a study by Barren River Area Development District. BRADD is an organization working to preserve and enhance the lives of people in the region through planning, economic development, and other measures.
“Broadband provides opportunities for companies that require high-speed and reliable internet,” he says. “We all experienced the importance of NCTC’s fiber broadband during the COVID pandemic. Its reliability and speed are even more appreciated and necessary as we move forward.”
Building a Brand & Relationships
Since the Scottsville plant opened, it’s become part of the town’s identity. From the beginning, Burch says, Smucker “has been a consistent and dependable partner in multiple community endeavors.”
Aiken says he’s proud of the connections the company makes in the community. “I think about the different roles that we play here,” he says. “Smucker gets involved with community activities. We help with the First Fridays on the Square, and we donate so much to the community.”
Things like that are important because many people in town have family members who work at the plant. They’re proud of the brand they’ve helped Smucker build. “They know it all started here,” Aiken says.