CLYMER, NY (August 22, 2010)—The new 36,000 square-foot warehouse is starting to take shape at Maplevale Farms Inc. in Clymer.
Thirteen weeks into the expansion project, Gary Neckers, Maplevale Farms president, said the new dry goods warehouse will add seven new dock doors for the business' shipping operation.
He said once the project is completed, the company will have 12 shipping docks.
''The expansion will give us more room and we will be more efficient because of the additional space,'' he said. ''We will be able to handle more product and be able to get more trucks in and out.''
The company had 64,000 square feet in its old warehouse, which is being turned into a cooler-storage facility, with an additional dock door added as well. When the project is finished, the company will have nearly 100,000 square feet of storage space.
The project started in May and the new warehouse is scheduled to be ready by November, Neckers said.
The $2 million project to construct the new warehouse and $1 million renovation project to work on the old warehouse was a necessity for the company. Neckers said adding new customers - like the State University at Fredonia - that want new products, more storage space was needed.
''It is a good thing that we need to expand,'' Neckers said. ''We had no choice but to expand. We were running out of room. When we add new customers we have to add new supplies. We will be able to handle more customers with the expansion.''
Neckers said Duggan & Duggan from Allegany is the general contractor on the project and S. St. George Enterprises in Fredonia has also done work for the expansion.
Maplevale Farms was founded in 1951 by Norman Neckers as a custom meat-cutting operation, eventually becoming involved in the processing and selling of many different cuts of beef and veal to various restaurants as far north as Buffalo.
In 1973, Maplevale Farms became a member of Nugget Distributors of America, a cooperative of 100 other food distributors. In 1985, as business expanded, Maplevale Farms moved from its original warehouse in French Creek to its current location in Clymer.
Maplevale Farms is a member of the UniPro Foodservice, Inc. buying group - the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the United States.
Comprising more than 650 shareholder companies with more than 900 locations, each distributor is independently owned, marketing the products and services provided by UniPro Foodservice.
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