Siemer Milling Partners on New Cincinnati-Area Mill

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Published on May 2 2015 1:48 pm
Last Updated on May 2 2015 1:48 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

(SIEMER MILLING PRESIDENT RICK SIEMER IS SEEN IN THE MIDDLE AS THE "CAKE RIBBON CUTTING" TAKES PLACE TO OPEN THE NEW FLOUR MILL)

Siemer Milling Company of Teutopolis hosted an opening program for a new flour mill on April 17. Under the name Whitewater Mill LLC, it is a joint venture between Siemer and H. Nagel & Son, a long-time Cincinnati flour miller. The mill is located in West Harrison, IN, 25 miles west of downtown Cincinnati, OH.

Over 200 people were present for the program. It featured comments by a number of company and government officials, led by Indiana Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann. In Indiana, the Lt. Gov. is also the Secretary of Agriculture. The State of Indiana, Dearborn County, and the City of Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County seat, all provided assistance to Whitewater Mill in financing and facilitating construction of the mill. After the speeches, two large cakes with fondant icing “ribbons” were ceremonially cut to officially open the facility.

The mill grinds 23,000 bushels of soft red winter wheat in a day to make 700 tons of processed wheat products – wheat usage amounts to more than seven million bushels per year. Most of the wheat will be sourced from within 150 miles of West Harrison, from Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. It was built under the direction of Siemer Milling executives Vernon “Red” Tegeler of Teutopolis and Sunil Maheshwari of Effingham. Mr. Maheshwari will be the West Harrison plant manager.

Primary contractors for the mill were Bühler, Inc. of Uzwil, Switzerland, equipment supplier; and Todd & Sargent of Ames, IA, who constructed the buildings and installed the equipment. Wohltman Construction of Effingham built the flour warehouse. Bühler North America President Rene Steiner told the audience, “Without exception, this is the most modern flour mill in the world today.”

According to Siemer Milling President Rick Siemer, “We are building a new mill rather than expanding our mills at Teutopolis or Hopkinsville, KY, because the logistics of both supply and demand make the third location much more cost-effective. Locating in the Cincinnati area has been of interest to us for a long time. Recent customer expansions, and the opportunity to partner with Ted Nagel’s company, gave the idea its final push.” Mr. Siemer added, “By the way, most Teutopolis ancestors lived in Cincinnati for a while before trekking west in the late 1830s. My great-grandfather, Joseph Siemer, was born there in 1857. So it’s almost like going home again!”

Siemer Milling began in 1882, and H. Nagel & Son even earlier, in 1853; they bring a combined total of over 290 years of flour milling experience to this venture. Retired Nagel President, Bill Nagel, commented that he was pleased to see the success of "young" companies like Siemer.