COLUMBUS, Ohio — The egg and poultry industries continue to face challenges, but investments are being made, specifically in Ohio.

Lincoln Yee is the co-Founder and co-President of International Food Solutions Inc.

He said his business processes raw poultry into foods like teriyaki or tangerine chicken for thousands of school districts all across the country. Due to pandemic-related challenges, Yee said at times he was forced to go without 30% of his product because his suppliers were unable to fill orders, so he decided to bring some of that process "in-house."

"It was obviously a very dilapidated building. We started to imagine what type of production we can do in here," Yee said.

With the help of a multi-million dollar grant from the USDA, International Food Solutions Inc. plans on expanding current operations by renovating a vacant building on the east side of Cleveland.

"We’re going to elevate the ceilings here so it can accommodate the equipment. We'll be producing 60 million pounds of poultry here with two lines when we're all said and done," he said.

Yee said the project should be complete by the beginning of 2025, with more than 300 jobs available.

"We called this Project Renaissance because this is going to remake something brand new in a very dilapidated building, yet we're pulling for the local community here," he said. "People can actually walk to work. That makes it very convenient with starting wages of over $22 an hour."

In a release, Sen. Sherrod Brown said this investment will help make the nation's supply chains more resilient.

"I’m glad to see the USDA continuing to fulfill its promises by putting Ohioans first, investing in Ohio food processing and manufacturing, and helping ensure that every Ohio family has access to the food they need," Brown said.

Also in the industry, the International Production & Processing Expo wrapped up this week.

Agriculture expert Andy Vance was there. 

"Ohio's the No. 2 egg-producing state in the country, so obviously the trials and tribulations of the broader poultry industry mean a lot to Ohio's agriculture industry and Ohio's economy in general," said Vance. "Avian influenza absolutely top of mind for everyone. And in a high path, AI has kind of ebbed and flowed over the years."

Vance is also the Executive Director of the Poultry Science Association.

"I think the future is bright. There's a lot of optimism here, but certainly a concern for some of those challenges that all of us are dealing with as consumers and events," he said.