Dot Foods broke ground Aug. 29 on the company’s 13th distribution center in Manchester, Tennessee. The center, located at 600 Manchester Industrial Parkway, will create more than 250 jobs in the first three years of operation.
Work on the Manchester distribution center will begin immediately, with a goal of having the facility operational in fall 2023. Dot selected Stellar as the design-builder of the project. Stellar also designed and constructed Dot’s Dyersburg, Tennessee, facility, which opened in 2015. Dot will also use a substantial number of local and regional contractors on this project.
“When we are looking at where to locate a new facility, the available talent is among our top considerations,” said Dick Tracy, president of Dot Foods. “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 company had a distribution center in Memphis in the 1980s and 90s and returned to the state in 2015 when it opened the Dyersburg location. Dot will invest $50.5 million into the 177,000-square-foot Manchester facility, which will include offices and dry, refrigerated and frozen warehouse space and an on-site garage.
The L-shaped design of the building will give Dot the ability to 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. The company has been adding clinics to its facilities, so all employees and their families can have convenient access to health care.
“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. 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,” said TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter.
Anthony Soto will lead the Manchester facility as the general manager. Soto came to Dot in 2008 as a warehouse specialist at the Burley, Idaho, distribution center before advancing to manage the warehouse and eventually assume the general manager role at Dot Foods Idaho. He has also helmed Dots Arizona distribution center.
“I’m most excited about building our team,” Soto said. “I love getting to educate and train, and the founding group of employees at a new Dot location is really special. I had an opportunity to be part of it when we opened our Idaho location, and I can’t wait to experience it again here in Manchester.”
The groundbreaking also marked the kickoff of Dot’s charitable giving program at its newest location. Tracy announced $120,000 in donations to 10 area schools and nonprofits. Those receiving aid are Manchester City Schools – $20,000; Coffee County Schools – $20,000; Tullahoma City Schools – $20,000; Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center – $10,000; Blue Monarch – $10,000; and Veterans of Foreign Wars – $10,000.
