Thursday, May 28, 2009, is another day of Celebration of Success in Starke County with groundbreaking events scheduled to commemorate construction of new infrastructure that will service the Hamlet, Indiana West Industrial Area. The Starke County Development Foundation is hosting the groundbreaking ceremonies on the 28th. Dignitaries will gather for photographs at the infrastructure construction site located at the junction of Starke County Highways 500 North and 500 East at 11:00 a.m. CDT, followed by an invitation-only celebration luncheon at the Oregon–Davis High School.
Starke County, the Starke County Development Foundation and the Town of Hamlet are constructing a new well field, water treatment facility, 200,000 gallon water tower, 12” water mains throughout the area, connecting the water mains to the Town of Hamlet’s existing facility and constructing new sanitary sewer lines.
Starke County is using grants from the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Grant Fund, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Industrial Development Grant Fund, the Starke County Economic Development Income Tax Fund and the issuance of Tax Incremental Financing Bonds to build the infrastructure. Following construction, the water and sewer improvements will be transferred to, and operated by the Town of Hamlet.
The first occupant in the Hamlet West Industrial Area will be the Baugh North Central Cooperative Redistribution Center (RDC), an affiliate of Sysco Corporation, the largest food service company in the world. Sysco Corporation previously purchased 320 acres for the Baugh North Central Cooperative site. The Starke County Development Foundation previously purchased 24 acres of land to construct the infrastructure.
The approximately 700,000 square foot operation is expected to cost more than $90,000,000.00, will create approximately 500 new jobs and will include freezer, refrigeration, and dry storage, office space, rail spurs and a truck maintenance facility. The RDC will service 23 Sysco broadline distribution facilities in 11 states.
Hamlet is the third site location of five facilities planned throughout the United States as part of Sysco’s Supply Chain Initiative. The first Re-Distribution Center began shipping products in February 2005, from Front Royal, Virginia. It services 14 of Sysco’s broadline distribution companies in the Northeast Region. Sysco’s second RDC in Alachua, Florida, services six broadline distribution companies in the South Region.
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. For more information about Sysco, visit www.Sysco.com.
The Starke County Development Foundation is a not-for-profit Local Economic Development Organization (LEDO) providing economic development opportunities on behalf of Starke County, Indiana, the City of Knox, and the Towns of North Judson and Hamlet through the development of industrial parks, rail spurs, Greenfield sites, shovel-ready sites, infrastructure and workforce development. For more information regarding Starke County Development Foundation, visit www.starkecounty.com.
As a result of legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly in Feb. 2005, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) replaced the Department of Commerce as the premier entity charged with state economic development. The IEDC has a 12-member board chaired by Gov. Mitch Daniels. For more information about IEDC, please visit www.iedc.IN.gov.