The Racine County Economic Development Corporation (RCEDC) and United Natural Foods, Inc., held a groundbreaking of the company’s new 425,000 square foot distribution and warehouse facility in the Village of Sturtevant, which is expected to bring 220 new, full-time positions to the region.
Reed Hall, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) secretary and chief executive officer, stated, “This groundbreaking is the culmination of an impressive effort to attract UNFI to the Village of Sturtevant. It reflects on the strong collaboration between local, county, regional and state economic development partners to support business expansion in Wisconsin.”
Situated near Racine, the new facility will serve as a distribution hub for retailers in the Midwest Region of the United States. Strategically, the Wisconsin facility extends the company’s focus on enhancing efficiencies, improving productivity through “best in class” warehousing and inventory control systems, lowering operating costs in its distribution network and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“UNFI is pleased to partner with the State of Wisconsin and the Village of Sturtevant to expand our operations here in the Midwest,” said Sean Griffin, UNFI’s Group President. “We feel Sturtevant is the optimal location for us to better service our customers and increase our operational efficiencies while reducing our costs and emissions. We look forward to growing together with this great community.”
The Village of Sturtevant and Racine County proved successful in recruiting UNFI by meeting all the company’s project requirements: a fully serviced site in the interstate corridor, a ready and available workforce, and a competitive incentive package.
In conjunction with UNFI’s goal of making natural and healthy products available to everyone, the business strives to have the lowest possible impact on the environment. As part of its commitment to Green Initiatives, the Company plans to pursue LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for this distribution facility once operations commence. LEED® is a third party certification program and a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes more than 65,000 products to more than 27,000 customer locations throughout the United States and Canada. The company serves a wide variety of retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product superstores, independent retail operators and the food service channel. United Natural Foods, Inc. was ranked by Fortune in 2006 – 2010 and 2012 as one of its “Most Admired Companies,” winner of the Supermarket News 2008 Sustainability Excellence Award, recognized by the Nutrition Business Journal for its 2009 Environment and Sustainability Award and chosen by Food Logistics Magazine as one of its 2012 Top 20 Green Providers.
For more information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit the company’s website at www.unfi.com. Click here to read the economic development case study prepared by WEDC of United Natural Foods, Inc.
For more information on Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation go to www.inwisconsin.com, or Racine County programs, contact Jenny Trick at the Racine County Economic Development Corporation at jtrick@racinecountyedc.org, (262) 898-7424.
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