A company that stores and distributes foods to restaurants all over the world wants to open its first Midwest operation in Greenwood.
The city’s redevelopment commission on Tuesday unanimously approved two tax breaks so Quality Custom Distribution Services, Inc. could begin operating a 135,000-square-feet cold-storage warehouse and distribution center in Greenwood.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company and division of Golden State Foods plans to make a $24 million investment in Greenwood, said Cody Mullins, the company’s senior director for continuous improvement.
Investments include $13.2 million in real estate improvements, $10.5 million in manufacturing equipment, $600,000 in logistic distribution equipment and $550,000 in IT equipment, according to city documents.
Scannell Properties, an Indianapolis-based developer that has a large footprint in Greenwood, will own and lease the building to QCD.
Commission members unanimously approved a 10-year, $1.75 million real property tax break for Scannell, which will still owe more than $2 million in property taxes over the life of the abatement.
The second incentive is forgiveness of nearly $428,000 in personal property taxes break for QCD, which will still pay about $223,485 in personal property taxes over the life of the abatement, city documents said.
Because it is valued at more than $1 million, at least one of those tax break proposals will need to go before the city council at its next meeting on Monday.
The company plans to hire 99 workers within the first two years of business. Those jobs will pay, on average, $20 to $25 an hour, and include full benefits such as health insurance, 401K, tuition reimbursement and college scholarship assistance for employees and their children. Local jobs would range from managers and supervisors, to warehouse workers and truck drivers, Mullins said.
The company also offers in-house programs and partnerships with universities to help employees advance within the company. For example, they developed a training program that helps warehouse workers become truck drivers if they’re interested, he said.
“There is a national crisis on our hands with driver shortages. We’re short on drivers everywhere. But everything you ever see was once on a truck, so it’s important to us that we put time and effort and money into developing warehouse associates to become drivers in our organization, where you can go from an $18 an hour job working in a warehouse to a $65,000 a year job driving a truck, a specialized skill,” Mullins said.
QCD has partnered with Scannell Properties to build the facility near Collins Road and Stacie’s Way, on the southeast side of the city. Construction is slated to begin in November and wrap up next summer, according to city documents.
The Greenwood warehouse would be what is known as a flow-through facility, Mullins said, meaning they would have a constant rotation of trucks, inbound and outbound, at the same time.
QCD provides more than 17,000 deliveries a week from 19 distribution centers strategically placed around the country, according to its website. The company also created the GSF Foundation, an employee-funded nonprofit that helps hundreds of children by partnering with local charities in the communities they do business in. Examples include providing backpacks and new shoes for children at the start of the school year, among other partnerships with local boys and girls clubs and schools.
“We try to give back and create a relationship with the local town and communities,” Mullins said.
QCD specializes in food distribution and manufacturing, but mostly focuses on manufacturing food products for restaurants. They buy foods from approved suppliers, house them in their warehouses, fulfill orders and distribute them to restaurants, including sit-down and fast-food chains, within a specified radius.
“This market is very attractive to us — Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis areas. Mid-America is a great opportunity for growth for our company,” Mullins said.
