At 11 a.m. today, the cornerstone will be laid for the first building in an increasingly more international Ames.

Barilla, Italy’s number-one brand of pasta, is holding the cornerstone-laying ceremony today for its first manufacturing plant in the United States.

The ceremony will be held at the corner of Lincoln Way and I-35 in Ames.

The event will be attended by Guido Barilla, Bob Black of Barilla America, Inc., Ed Artzt of Barilla, Gov. Terry Branstad and Ames Mayor Larry Curtis.

The ceremony celebrates the beginning of construction on the new $137 million state-of-the-art facility, which is expected to produce more than 200 million pounds of pasta per day.

Actual pasta production in the Ames plant is expected to begin in mid-1998.

The 240-acre facility will enable Barilla to service its growing business in the U.S. and will employ about 150 people.

The plant, mill and warehouse will cover 350,000 square feet.

The mill will provide durum semolina for the plant and will also incorporate the company’s latest technology.

Barilla America is a fully-owned subsidiary of Barilla SPA, the world’s largest pasta producer.

Since its founding in 1877, Barilla has been known as a premium choice in pasta, officials said.