Harvest Time Bread will invest $4.5 million to expand its bakery operations in the southeastern United States.

The capital will fund Harvest Time’s purchase of its current 70,000-sq.-ft. bakery in Mount Airy, N.C., along with the addition of new capital equipment and workers. The Woodbridge, N.J.-based company produces a wide variety of breads, rolls, whole grain and organic products.

The news marks the second announcement of a major capital expansion within a year for the company. Harvest Time recently installed $1.5 million in new equipment at the Mount Airy site, and at its bakery and headquarters facility in Woodbridge “to keep pace with current growth,” says Rich Paolino, chief executive officer of Harvest Time Bread.

“We’re investing to expand both our product and service offerings to our clients [that include] national and regional foodservice companies, restaurants, grocery stores and retail chains,” Paolino says.

The investment was made possible in part by a $100,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund, which provides financial assistance through local governments to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs in the state.