The company well known for its iconic ice cream cones is undergoing a sweet expansion to take on a larger chunk of the cookie sector.

The Joy Baking Group is building a new plant on its sprawling property off of North Keel Road in Hermitage to fill more cookie orders. In addition to Joy Cones, the company bakes up cookie sandwiches that are crushed up and shipped out to customers that use them for cookies and cream ice cream.

"We'll be able to put a new cookie line in place by the end of this year and we'll be able to grow continually in that side of the business," David George said, president and CEO of the Joy Baking Group.

"We have one here and one in Iowa and they're sold out, so we need more capacity."

The plant should be complete by the end of October.

The Joy Baking Group is a business that runs in the family.

The company dates back to 1918, when people started indulging ice cream in the early 1900's. David George's grandfather Albert George and Thomas J. Thomas, both immigrants, started what was the George and Thomas Cone Company.

Spring and summer is the Joy Baking Group's busy season, with 10 million cones made each day.
They're boxed up and shipped out to retail stores, ice cream shops, fast food chains and manufacturers that use them for the frozen ice cream treats in grocery stores.

George says he'll need to hire almost 50 employees for the new cookie plant.

The company has about 70 jobs open at the cone plant right now. Aside from sweet perks at work, the Joy Baking Group is 100-percent employee owned.

Anyone interested in applying for one of Joy Baking Group's sweet career opportunities can visit JoyCone.com.