Lamb Weston consolidates at Colstor in Quincy
Lamb Weston consolidates at Colstor in Quincy
Manager: 'Freight opportunities will be here'
QUINCY — Only weeks after the grand opening, shipments began arriving at Columbia Colstor's new warehouse facility.
Regional Manager Russ Lytle said the facility started receiving product Sept. 18, and started shipping Sept. 26.
"We're loading every day," he said.
In the early planning stages of the facility, the company approached ConAgra Foods' Lamb Weston about making it a consolidation point for exports.
"They liked the idea and they committed to the business plan of consolidating the majority of their export products, (which) will be stored and distributed from here," Lytle said. He noted Lamb Weston has been with Columbia Colstor since the latter opened its doors in 1983. "We're going to consolidate business from all over the Basin. Some of it's going to come out of some of our facilities, and some from other facilities."
It means multi-modal opportunities for Lamb Weston, Lytle continued. Once the Port of Quincy's intermodal train yard begins operation, they could use trains in addition to trucks, he said.
Lamb Weston is presently the only customer at the new warehouse site.
"They've committed to just about the whole place," Lytle said.
Spokesperson Melissa Baron said nothing has changed from a ConAgra perspective at the Quincy facility.
"We do use them for some storage for products," she said.
For Columbia Colstor, the consolidation helps attract other customers.
"Other customers will see ConAgra here, utilizing our facility," he said. "Kind of like you build a McDonald's on the corner, the next corner over is Burger King."
Lytle called for more ins and outs once the intermodal operation gets moving.
"The freight opportunities will be here," he said, noting a group from Burlington Northern Santa Fe meets with the port and Colstor this month.
Thirty employees started at the warehouse. The company is hiring 10 more.
"We're going to grow more jobs in the community," Lytle said. "We're going to add to the tax base. We're going to help the community out in that way, probably not at the magnitude that Microsoft or Yahoo! will. They're putting in a $300 million facility; we're just $25 million. We're a piker compared to them guys, but in the food business, it's a big deal."
During the grand opening Sept. 15, Colstor President Don McGraw credited Lytle with possessing the dream that made the facility possible. To see it operating is exciting, Lytle said, from his new office which overlooks the warehouse.
"We're doing things different, using our new technology, we're barcoding and scanning everything in and out," he said. "We've got new equipment for transporting products, we're turning the trucks in the inbound side of it in a half-hour, they're in and out of here."
Training of new employees is under way, Lytle said, adding that the crew will get better. The facility is still under construction, he noted.
"The rackers are still putting things up," he said. "We're pushing them. We're filling up faster than they can put the rack up."
The recent discovery of E.coli bacteria in spinach and its subsequent national impact had no impact on operations.
Lytle pointed out all vegetables are frozen and processed, and as good as fresh.
"From harvest to the freezer, there's a 12-hour period," he said. "They're locked in, they're blanched. If that had been a bag of vegetables that somebody got sick from, we'd know where it came from right away. We wouldn't be waiting around two weeks. We'd know in four hours."
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