Logistics Solutions

Ground broke in June, for instance, on a new, 158,000-sq.-ft. (14,700-sq.-m.) Wells Dairy ice cream plant in St. George, in the southwest corner of the state. The US$40-million facility will employ up to 70 people. Le Mars, Iowa-based Wells Dairy operates three production facilities in Le Mars; a fourth plant is in Omaha, Neb.
        "In addition to more capacity, we were looking for more access to our western markets," says Doug Wells, chief operating officer. "It will help us out on some of our transportation and freight issues – both raw material freight and finished product."
        St. George is within an eight-hour drive of nearly every major U.S. West Coast city, so customers of Wells Dairy in that region are better served from a logistics standpoint. "The city was seeking a manufacturing base for their community," notes Wells. "We had researched a number of criteria when selecting the site, including utilities, labor, environmental issues and cost and non-cost factors as well as the quality of life, and that location mixed well with our needs." It's much like Le Mars, Iowa, he adds, with a strong work ethic and a good quality of life.
        Wells Dairy's selection of St. George has not gone unnoticed by others in the food processing industry. St. George Foods, a division of Snac Corp., is building a $6-million, 45,000-sq.-ft. (4,200-sq.-m.) production and distribution facility that will create 45 to 50 permanent positions and 20 to 30 seasonal positions manufacturing potato chip-based snack foods. And Ontario, Calif.-based Bomatic, Inc., is building a 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,300-sq.-m.) manufacturing facility for the production of plastic bottles and other containers.
        All three projects are located in St.George's Fort Pierce Industrial Park, a 700-acre (283-hectare) master-planned park for which building permits are normally issued within two weeks of submittal of plans.
        Other industries are applying a similar approach to reaching their West Coast customers, too. EAS, a leading supplier of active lifestyle and sports nutrition products, recently opened a 158,000-sq.-ft. (14,700-sq.-m.) warehouse and distribution center in Salt Lake City. The facility is located near the company's vendors close to the intersection of Interstates 80 and 15.
        "With nearly one third of our business in the West, we need to reduce supply chain lead times and get products to our customers in an expedient and efficient manner," says Monty Sharma, chief operations officer and executive vice president. "This facility will allow us to accomplish that and allow us to keep pace with our rapid sales growth."