Dignitaries from far and wide converged on Burlington’s westernmost reaches on Monday to mark the ceremonial beginning of what promises to be the biggest corporate development in the city’s history.
Ahold Delhaize USA, the parent company of the Food Lion grocery chain, officially broke ground that morning on this massive new distribution center that has been announced near the interstate interchange for NC Highway 61 South.
This gargantuan facility will ultimately cover more than a million square feet of the now raw 200-acre site that Ahold Delhaize has begun to transform within eastern Guilford County.
J.J. Fleeman, the CEO of the Dutch-based conglomerate, conceded that it currently takes some imagination to see the possibilities this site holds for his company.
“You can’t see it today, but this will be a state-of-the-art facility…that represents one of the most significant investments we’ve made in our supply chain.
“This groundbreaking marks another exciting step forward in strengthening our supply chain network and ensuring we can serve our customers with the freshest products every day.
“We’re proud to invest in North Carolina – one of our home states for near 70 years – and to continue building our commitment to service local customers and communities by providing access to nutritious and affordable options.”
– J.J. Fleeman, chief executive officer of Ahold Delhaize USA
“You can’t see it today,” he acknowledged when he kicked off Monday’s ceremony. “But this will be a state-of-the-art facility…that represents one of the most significant investments we’ve made in our supply chain.”
Ahold Delhaize eventually plans to invest more than $860 million into this logistics hub, which will serve Food Lion grocery stores in North Carolina and southern Virginia. By the time it’s complete in 2033, the facility is expected to employ more than 500 people who will handle than 135 million cases of groceries each year.
[Story continues below photos of groundbreaking ceremonies and artist renderings of the future plant.]
In order to secure the company’s commitment to this location, officials in Burlington and Guilford County have pledged roughly $40 million in cash payments and infrastructure improvements. Meanwhile, state agencies have also chipped in additional enticements, including some roadwork that the N.C. Transportation Department has already begun near the I-85/40 interchange.
The fact that a project like this doesn’t emerge in a vacuum was a common theme among the dignitaries who joined Fleeman at the microphone on Monday. These distinguished guests included Burlington’s mayor Beth Kennett, who took office shortly after the project’s formal announcement this fall.
“As a new mayor, it is an honor to stand here and celebrate a project that’s been so long in the making,” Kennett declared. “It shows what we can achieve when communities, partners, and stakeholders all work together.”
Meanwhile, outgoing state representative Steve Ross, who served as Burlington’s mayor early in his political career, zeroed in on the need for publicly-funded infrastructure to lay the groundwork for projects like this one.
“These kinds of things can’t happen without infrastructure,” he emphasized. “When you were coming down here today, you were probably stopped by construction – and that’s the infrastructure [for this project].”
In addition to Kennett and Ross, Monday’s event drew remarks from state senators Phil Burger, Amy Scott Galey, and Michael Garrett; state representatives Alan Branson and Amanda P. Cook; and Skip Alston, the chairman of Guilford County’s commissioners. Also present were staffers for U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd as well as Congressman Richard Hudson. All of these VIPs later joined the company’s top brass for a ceremonial “dirt toss” that took place on the grounds of the development’s site.
But perhaps the most telling moment from Monday’s event came when Food Lion’s president Greg Finchum reflected on what his chain could’ve gained from this new distribution center during the back-to-back snow storms that hammered North Carolina earlier this year.
“We could’ve used this puppy over the past three weeks,” he admitted.
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