Melaleuca reveals expansion plans

After reporting record growth in 2012, Melaleuca is ready to expand.

Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot said that expansion will bring more jobs.

VanderSloot and Bonneville County Commissioner Rodger Christensen unveiled the big plan for Melaleuca’s new headquarters Tuesday morning.

“We have decided to invest heavily in southeastern Idaho,” VanderSloot said.

Construction crews have already broken ground on the 195-acre plot right next to Interstate 15. That location is key, VanderSloot said, because he wants the headquarters to double as a tourist attraction.

“Over a million tourists traveling to Yellowstone Park on an annual basis, and these facilities will be very tourist friendly,” VanderSloot said.

Aside from a 17,000-square-foot event center, VanderSloot wants to keep his tourism plans a surprise.

Whatever he has in mind, he’ll need more people to run it.

VanderSloot expects a large number of new jobs (he’s not sure how many), not just in tourism. Melaleuca is looking for people in all areas of operation.

“Jobs are a premium, so we appreciate anything we can have coming into the community,” Christensen said.

The new facility will have three times the office space as the old headquarters.

The new headquarters is set to open in spring of 2014.

VanderSloot says the old headquarters will either be sold or donated.