By Emily C. Dooley, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

Amid news of layoffs, bailouts and closures, good economic news emerged in Chesterfield County yesterday.

A kosher, vegetarian food manufacturer plans to invest $59.3 million to build a food-processing plant at the Ruffin Mill Industrial Park just north of Colonial Heights.

An estimated 260 jobs will be added when Sabra Dipping Co. opens its 110,000-square-foot-plant by mid-2010.

"I think it's a shot of good news that we all need at this point," said Gregory H. Wingfield, president and chief executive of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic-development agency. "It's nice to see new jobs created rather than jobs being lost."

It took about six to eight months to finalize the deal.

"It is satisfying to see that, even in these tight economic times, manufacturing continues to grow in Chesterfield County," County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier said in a statement.

Based in Astoria, N.Y., Sabra is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Strauss Group, which is Israel's second-largest food and beverage company and employs more than 11,000 people in 19 countries.

The company said it uses fresh herbs and spices to make a variety of refrigerated dips and spreads, including hummus.

"Sabra has emerged as a top brand in the growing dips category," Sabra Dipping Co. Chief Executive Ronen Zohar said. "We are projecting growth and planning exciting innovation."

Training assistance will be offered and the state has authorized a $350,000 grant, which the county must match.

Other county incentives exist for the plant, which is expected to pay $260,000 in real estate taxes each year, said H. Garrett Hart III, development manager for new business attraction in Chesterfield County.

The new plant will be in an enterprise zone, which means the company can receive a waiver for building inspection, planning and zoning fees, as well as a five-year rebate on a machinery and tools tax. The estimated cost of the waivers and rebate is $545,000, Hart said.

The county has also agreed to give Sabra $235,000 for site development.