Dot Foods is growing its distribution capabilities in North America.
The company’s Canadian subsidiary, Dot Foods Canada, recently broke ground on a new distribution center in Ontario after celebrating the start of construction for a new center in Manchester, Tennessee, last month.
Dot is investing $38 million ($50 million CAD) in the 168,875-square-foot Canadian facility located at 100 Ken McKee St. The new facility also will create 200 jobs in its first three to five years of operation, the company said.
“We are very strategic in determining the best place to build a new facility,” said John Tracy, executive chairman of Dot Foods Canada. “Ingersoll is a great location for us because of the workforce available here and the space available to support our future growth. We’re excited about the careers we have to offer and about the people who will join our Dot Foods Canada family. There’s a lot of opportunity for our distribution model in Canada, and we look forward to better serving our current customers and reaching new ones with the establishment of this distribution center.”
Dot initially established operations in Canada in 2016 with the purchase of Canadian food redistributor Marketwest, and set up distribution centers in Calgary, Alberta and Brampton, Ontario. When the Ingersoll facility is complete in spring 2023, it will replace operations at the currently leased Brampton location, Dot said. Dot has offered positions at the new facility to all employees who currently work at the Brampton location. Dot expects to hire 200 new employees from Ingersoll and surrounding areas in the next three to five years. These positions will largely be for warehouse workers and truck drivers, with some office and administrative roles. Hiring for truck drivers already is underway. The majority of other positions will be posted in late 2022/early 2023.
Phase 1 of the Ingersoll distribution center will include offices and dry, refrigerated, and frozen warehouse space. The L-shaped designed of the building gives Dot the ability to expand all warehouse and office spaces in future years, up to as much as 350,000 sq. ft., to meet the company’s growing customer demand in Canada. Eventually, Dot also will add on-site garage facilities to support the Dot Transportation Canada fleet.
“Dot Foods’ new distribution center will be a wonderful addition here in Ingersoll,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford. “This new facility shows that our government’s commitment to making Ontario open for business is working. Together with businesses like Dot Foods, we are growing the economy and creating great, well-paying jobs right here in Oxford.”
Manchester, Tennessee location
Dot plans to invest $50.5 million in the new 177,000-sq.-ft. Manchester facility, which will be Dot Foods’ 13th U.S. distribution center. The company also has an existing facility in Dyersburg, Tennessee. The new center located at 600 Manchester Industrial Parkway, will create more than 250 jobs in the first three years of operations, the company said.
“When we are looking at where to locate a new facility, the available talent is among our top considerations,” said Dick Tracy, Dot Foods president. “We are excited about the workforce in Coffee County and the surrounding region and believe we have a lot to offer as an employer. We talk about family a lot at Dot. We are a family-owned and -operated company. Breaking ground on our new Manchester distribution center means our Dot Foods and Dot Transportation family is growing, and that’s always reason to celebrate.”
The facility will include offices and dry, refrigerated, and frozen warehouse space, and an on-site garage, Dot said. The L-shaped design of the building gives Dot the ability to easily expand all warehouse and office spaces in future years to meet Dot’s growing customer demand in the Southeastern U.S. It will also be the first location to open with an on-site healthcare clinic for anyone covered on Dot’s medical plan.
Hiring for the majority of roles will begin in the spring, the company added.
“Centrally located within the U.S. and equipped with a solid infrastructure system, Tennessee is primed to help companies meet and exceed their distribution needs,” said Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. “We are proud to be the home of Dot Foods and look forward to seeing this company’s continued growth and success as it expands into Manchester.”
