Vital Farms hires new Springfield plant director

provided by Vital Farms

Mike O’Brien is the new plant leader in Springfield.

Last edited 1:03 p.m., Jan. 15, 2025 [Editor's note: The article has been clarified to note that the new egg grading system is the third at the facility.]

Austin, Texas-based Vital Farms has hired a new director for its Springfield operation.

Mike O’Brien, a Missouri native, is now serving as director of plant operations at Egg Central Station, the nickname for Vital Farms' Springfield egg washing and packing facility at 2007 N. Alliance Ave. in Partnership Industrial Center West. His appointment was announced in a news release issued yesterday.

"In his new role, O’Brien will oversee day-to-day production and supply chain operations at ECS," officials said in the release.

O’Brien succeeds Todd Hilzendager in the plant operations director role, said Gabriel Cassady, co-owner of creative agency 2 Oddballs LLC on behalf of Vital Farms. Hilzendager's LinkedIn profile indicates he started in September as director of manufacturing for New Way Trucks in Iowa after serving in the Egg Central Station plant director position for less than a year.

Cassady said O’Brien joined Vital Farms in November. O'Brien's career includes work leading operations and manufacturing transformation at Herman Miller.

Vital Farms also announced in the release that it would add a third egg grading system manufactured by Moba Group at Egg Central Station, with installation starting in the first quarter and the system expected to be fully operational by the fourth quarter. Officials say the system would improve production capacity and efficiency by 30%.

“With the continued strong demand for our eggs, these investments in our robust and resilient supply chain are critical to our mission of bringing ethical food to the table,” said Russell Diez-Canseco, Vital Farms president and CEO, in the release. “We have positive momentum going into 2025 to deliver another year of strong growth.”

In 2022, Vital Farms unveiled an expansion at Egg Central Station that doubled the size of the plant to 150,000 square feet, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.