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DeFOREST — The Little Potato Co. is forking over more than $20 million to spread its roots to Wisconsin.

Officials from the Canada-based company — which specializes in cultivating the petite creamer potato — announced Thursday they will open a U.S. head office and packing facility in DeForest that is expected to employ 130 people by 2019.

“Overall it makes a lot of sense because of the jobs it’s going to provide for our community, the stature it provides, and it helps us out to show that we can collaborate ... with businesses that will complement The Little Potato Co. and others to come,” said DeForest Village President Judd Blau.

Sandy Gleddie, vice president of operations for The Little Potato Co., said the 130,000-square-foot facility will hire 50 people when the building opens in January and the staff will grow to 130 in the next two to three years.

The addition of jobs in the food industry is an exciting prospect in a region that has been rocked by closure announcements at Oscar Mayer, which is closing its 1,000-worker plant on Madison’s North Side by early 2017, and Tyson Foods, which by year’s end will close a Jefferson pepperoni plant that employs 400 people.