J. Polep Distribution Services recently broke ground on an $11 million, 37,500-s.f. expansion of its warehouse in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where it is headquartered.
The expansion will replace the former 12,000-s.f. freezer cooler with a new 12-bay loading dock and freezer-cooler area, allowing for more product expansion. The overall J. Polep complex on Meadow Street is nearly 300,000 s.f. J. Polep had expanded its warehouse in 2008 but outgrew it two years later.
J. Polep worked with the Chicopee City Council on a real estate tax agreement, and in return, the project will allow J. Polep to add another 22 jobs to its estimated 486-member full-time workforce.
In a letter to the city council, Brian Neeld, J. Polep’s CFO, wrote in May 2017, “We are considering a facility to continue our growth and to bring new jobs to the Chicopee market. We have studied our future business needs and determined that both would be best served with the addition.”
With the council agreement in hand, J. Polep broke ground on the expansion in early February with expected occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Dave Boisselle, J. Polep VP of operations, said, “We will be able to load more trucks at the same time but overall bring in more SKUs and expand our dairy and frozen product line.”
He also said the expanded building will increase overall productivity and allow the company to handle even more accounts.
Once the expansion is complete, the current warehouse will have room for more dry goods storage.
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