June 28, 2008

Gordon Food Service Digs In
Groundbreaking begins on 134-acre distribution site

By Deneen Smith
The Kenosha News

Just over five months after Gordon Food Service first talked to local officials about the possibility of building a distribution center in Kenosha, the company held a ceremonial groundbreaking Friday celebrating the deal that will bring 300 new jobs to the area.

Groundworkhasalready begun on the 134-acre site off Highway N just east of Interstate 94. The 480,000-square-foot warehouse is expected to open in spring 2010. According to the city of Kenosha, the average wage for the 300 full-time employees expected to work at the warehouse will be $22 an hour.

The distribution center will be the 10th in the United States for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company. Gordon provides food and supplies to the restaurant industry and institutional users like schools, hospitals and senior centers. The company also operates 127 Marketplace retail stores.

Founded in 1897, the company is in its fourth generation of family ownership. It has 45,000 customers in 15 states

Although the Gordon Food Service already has a customer base in Wisconsin and Illinois, it had no distribution centers west of Lake Michigan.

“We have been talking about doing business on this side of the pond for a long time, probably 10 years,” said Jim Gordon, president of the familyowned company. He said the company settled on Kenosha because of the cooperation it received from government officials here, and because of the local workforce.

“We really do believe we can build our roots deep here,” Gordon said. “Our goal is always to have the very best people working for Gordon Food Service, and we feel we can find a ton of people who fit that bill here.”

Rob Scott, who handles siting distribution centers for Gordon, said he had been looking for a site in the region for over a year when he began meeting with local officials a little over five months ago. He said he was impressed by the community and the cooperation of local officials in working to meet the company's timeline for construction.

Scott said the privatelyheld company does not release financial data, but said “conservatively” they planned to invest $50 million in the development. A city document estimated the investment at $70 million.

The city, the county, the Kenosha Area Business Alliance and the state of Wisconsin all worked quickly to help build an incentive program that would cement Gordon's intention of building on the site. The city annexed the land, which Gordon purchased in two tracts from two separate owners, and worked out a tax incremental financing district that would provide up to $25 million in funds to pay for on-site infrastructure improvements. The city water utility will pay for extension of sewer and water to the site from its current closest connection near the Kenosha County Detention Center.

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce offered a $1 million loan.

And a deal between the state, city and county will pay $3.7 million to upgrade Highway N, now a quiet country road, to handle the 100 trucks a day expected to use the facility.

County Executive Jim Kreuser said in working on the deal to bring the company here he and Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman traveled to Shepherdsville, Ky., to visit a Gordon distribution center. He said he toured the facil ity, talked to employees, and was impressed by the operation, the wage scale and the company's involvement in the community.

“I said this is the type of corporate culture we want,” Kreuser said, calling the jobs it will create “high quality, living wage jobs.”

Scott said the warehouse will operate Sunday through Friday, with two shifts running nearly 24 hours a day. He said approximately 100 Gordon Food trucks will use the facility every day, plus an unknown number of supplier trucks.

Kreuser said the deal worked out between the city and county for the road improvements will include the county providing up to $2.7 million to rebuild Highway N between the East Frontage Road and Washington Road. Another $1 million is expected to come from a state transportation grant.

The city will lead the project, and when construction is complete the highway will be turned over to the city, shifting from highway jurisdiction to city jurisdiction.

City Development Director Jeff Labahn said the road would be widened and curb and gutter installed from the Gordon site west to the East Frontage Road. From Gordon east to Washington Road the roadway will simply be resurfaced, although some improvements are expected at the intersection of N and Washington Road.

To minimize disruption to residents, Labahn said, the city will try to time the reconstruction to the state's timeline for reconstruction of the frontage road.

The Gordon Food project is the second large development by a food service company in the area. Last month, Affiliated Foods Midwest broke ground on a 731,000-square-foot distribution center at 8410 60th St. that is also slated to employ 300 people.