LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Elisabeth Galvin mentions it several times as she shows off Stellar Snacks' new plant in the Park Hill neighborhood: The pretzel maker is an underdog.

Galvin, the company's founder, knows Stellar faces larger and well-heeled competitors that include publicly traded companies. She recalls overhearing doubters at trade shows when she and her daughter, Gina, started the business in 2019.

Nevada-based Stellar now is weeks away from the planned start of baking at its Dixie Highway facility, one of the largest economic development projects in western Louisville in years. In all, the $137 million investment is expected to create 350 jobs over the next decade.

Stellar has been retrofitting the 434,000-square-foot building since moving in last spring. It has installed equipment, hired and trained new staff, added a rail spur and connected a piping system that will move flour from arriving rail cars into nearby silos.

The Louisville operation gives Stellar important access to grocery stores and retailers in the eastern U.S., said Galvin, an entrepreneur who was raised in southeastern France but is quick to drop River City references.

"We are Stellar Snacks," she said in an interview Thursday, "and we are going to win the derby of pretzels."

Stellar plans to start baking full-time Nov. 4. The company has hired 51 workers, according to figures provided to WDRB News.

One of the first hires, supervisor Todd Thurman, said the area used to be run down when he was growing up about a mile away.

"The plant is so massive and beautiful," he said. "It was a no-brainer to start fresh, and to be able to grow with this new company is a privilege."

The company must hire its first 100 employees by the end of 2026 and invest at least $60 million by 2030 or start paying back a public subsidy, according to its agreement with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Galvin said Stellar is on track to meet those targets.  

A state incentives board last year approved $2.25 million in grant funds for Stellar, including up to $1 million for work on the rail spur and related improvements and $1.25 million in job credits. The company stands to get additional job credits — $300 per job — for workers hired from the nine nearby neighborhoods of Parkland, Shawnee, Park Duvalle, Russell, Portland, California, Chickasaw, Park Hill and Algonquin.

Stellar figures show 23 of the initial employees — or about half — are from those neighborhoods.

"Many of them are from the area, which was our focus when we hire people because we kind of give them the priority," Galvin said.

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Stellar Snacks founder Elisabeth Galvin speaks to WDRB News, October 24, 2024 (WDRB photo)

Oven supervisor William Mayfield, who lives nearby in Shively, said he believes Stellar will "provide a lot of financial opportunities that are rare in this area."

"It's good to know that we're not forgotten. They didn't forget about this area," he said. "You've got to help everybody out to make the big picture, right? So building up this community will be good for the whole city of Louisville."

Workers at the plant would make $30.20 per hour, including benefits, according to state documents.

Galvin said early figures show that Stellar is exceeding those goals.

Stellar announced its plan to open in Louisville late last year. Galvin said that decision was based on the region's available workforce and the city's central location.

"That is where you have UPS, and everybody is here," she said. "Because it's really a good place to ship to the east coast and the middle of the country."

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