Amarillo's Western Builders and its subcontractors are putting up walls at Hilmar's production plant where the company makes cheese and whey protein and lactose products used as nutritional supplements.

The construction is good news for Dalhart.

"We're having a little bit of a slump with the closing of (hog producer) Premium Standard Farms," City Manager Greg Duggan said. "Hopefully, that will take up that slack."

Hilmar's initial impact was dramatic.

"It basically turned our whole town around," Duggan said. "They created 200 jobs just at Hilmar."

The cheese plant contributed to the growth of the local dairy industry before low milk prices put pressure on further growth.

"Hundreds of sections of land sold for dairies," Duggan said.

The milk and cheese markets are starting to turn around, with better prices and lower input costs as excess supplies shrink.

"It's improved from last year," said David Ahlem, site manager at Hilmar. "Demand is picking up, and the surplus worldwide outlook is improving."

The expansion will house additional milk storage capacity, production lines and enhanced technology, according to information from the company.

The growth will allow the company to produce natural American-style cheese.

"It's the higher end the market wants increasingly," Ahlem said.

Current production is limited to 40-pound blocks of cheese for the wholesale market, but the additions will boost that to 640-pound blocks.

There are 27 dairies supplying Hilmar, and the company's demand for milk will double, Ahlem said. The company, which has 200 employees, will hire 50 more people during the second and third quarters and possibly more in the future.

The expansion should be complete about the end of the year.

Hilmar has grown from a company founded in 1984 by 12 Central California dairy families that owned Jersey cows and wanted better prices for their higher quality milk. The company now employs almost 1,000 people, according to a news release.

Hilmar broke ground on its initial plant in March 2006.

According to information from the Amarillo Economic Development Corp., economic assistance to get the facility in Dalhart included: