Gluten Free Oats is growing faster than the gluten-free section at grocery stores around the world and the $1 million grant needed for their next expansion was approved June 1.

Their new 90- by 150-foot warehouse has been a work in progress for about a year-and-a-half, said Gluten Free Oats founder Forrest Smith.

“It has been a waiting game to get the building up,” Forrest Smith said.

The new warehouse will allow them to store more efficiently and move packaging from their other location outside of town.

“That way we can streamline a bit more and increase the productivity of the mill,” Forrest Smith said.

Once completed, the warehouse will be for storage and packaging as well as employee facilities such as a breakroom, restrooms and changing rooms, said Gluten Free Oats president Seaton Smith.

Now in its 11th year of operation, Gluten Free Oats is shipping on an international scale and needs room to meet demands both nationally and as far away as Scotland and Australia.

“In the gluten-free world, word talks,” Forrest Smith said. “One person talks to another person, and we got a call from a consultant in Scotland.”

One thing led to another and now they’ve got a long-term relationship with the Scottish market. Then they were discovered online and entered the Australian market where gluten-free requirements are much stricter than in the United States, Forrest Smith said.

“Australia is very, very low for gluten content,” Forrest Smith said.

They also ship directly to customers in Canada, but recent law changes could open the gates for Gluten Free Oats to be sold on the shelves in Canada as well, Forrest Smith said.

“Our Canadians who buy direct from us are excited,” Forrest Smith said.

Gluten Free Oats currently stages orders through shipping containers, and the warehouse will eliminate the need for those containers.

“Fortunately, our clients are understanding of that, but we need to get out of shipping containers,” Seaton Smith said.

The expansion also means they will be able to produce more.

Construction is anticipated to take 180 days to complete, Seaton Smith said.

Heart Mountain Construction was awarded the $999,995 bid to construct the warehouse during the Powell City Council meeting June 1. The contractor is local, along with most of the sub-contractors, Seaton Smith said.

“It is doing exactly what it is meant to do — create more jobs for the area,” Seaton Smith said.

The new addition could mean increased employment at the company as well, Forrest Smith said.

“We are excited to be able to move into the next step,” Forrest Smith said.

Looking ahead, the company owns two additional lots and is looking into building more storage and packaging facilities, Seaton Smith said.

The grant is administered by the state to the city of Powell to foster economic development.

Basically, businesses can get low interest rates on loans with the city’s support. The same types of funding was used to build Gluten Free Oats’ current mill, Seaton Smith said.