Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and Dot Foods, Inc. officials announced Tuesday (April 5, 2022) the company will expand its Tennessee operations by establishing a new distribution facility at the Manchester Industrial Park, a Select Tennessee Certified Site.
Dot Foods will invest $50.5 million and create 171 new jobs as the company constructs a 177,000-square-foot plant in Coffee County, which will be Dot Foods’ second distribution center in Tennessee.
“Tennessee’s strong business climate and highly skilled workforce continue to attract businesses to our state. I thank Dot Foods for investing in Coffee County and providing opportunities for Tennesseans to thrive,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
The Manchester site will function similarly to Dot Foods’ operations in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and will include dry, refrigerated and frozen warehouse space. In addition, the facility will have the capacity to expand its square footage in order to meet Dot Foods’ growing customer demand among the southeastern U.S.
Dot Foods anticipates breaking ground on its new distribution center late this summer, with operations expected to begin in late 2023.
“We are excited that Dot Foods selected the City of Manchester to serve as the home of their new facility,” said Manchester Mayor Marilyn Howard. “We believe they will be an excellent addition to our business community and cannot wait to see the impact they will have. The vision Dot Foods shared for contributing to workforce development in our area is a big part of what makes this announcement so special. We thank Dot Foods and their entire leadership team for their investment in Manchester and wish them tremendous success.”
Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, Dot Foods is North America’s largest food industry redistributor, serving all 50 states and more than 55 countries with a product offering of more than 125,000 items. Today, the family-owned and -operated business employs more than 6,300 across North America.
“Tennessee has a lot to offer businesses like ours. Dot Foods first called Tennessee home in the 1980s and early 1990s, and we’ve loved being back in the state since the 2015 opening of our Dyersburg facility,” said Joe Tracy, CEO of Dot Foods, Inc. “We are very excited to establish a second Tennessee location in Manchester. The most critical factor in continuing our business’ history of growth is talent. We know Coffee County and the surrounding region have a lot of it to offer. We look forward to joining this community and growing our Dot Foods and Dot Transportation family.” – Joe Tracy, CEO, Dot Foods, Inc.
In the last five years, TNECD has supported more than 60 economic development projects in the Southern Middle Tennessee region, resulting in roughly 8,000 job commitments and $5.2 billion in capital investment.