The Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham is a staple of the Brazos Valley economy and it's a staple of millions of Texans' diets.

That's why the little creamery is expanding by 100,000 square feet.

"In order to help get the ice cream made and to those areas, we decided we needed to do some expansion here in Brenham," said Bill Weiss with Blue Bell.

Weiss says the expansion is all part of Blue Bell's plan to bring its renowned ice cream to more than the 20 states it currently serves.

"Our plan is to expand slowly," said Weiss.

The $14 million expansion will increase the creamery's storage capacity by 25 percent and it will add around 50 employees.

Despite a cold economy, it seems the ice cream coming out of Brenham remains a red hot remedy to these tough times.

"What we hear from our consumers is that Blue Bell is just a good quality product and it makes them feel good when things maybe aren't going so well," said Weiss.

And when you eat what you can and sell the rest, we'll you're always going to need more.

Construction on the Blue Bell expansion project started in the fall and is scheduled to be complete by this summer.