Heritage Food Service Equipment will invest $1.5 million in its Fort Wayne facility, adding 150 jobs.
Heritage, based in Fort Wayne, will grow at its 5130 Executive Blvd. location. The company, which has service locations throughout the southern U.S., currently has 203 workers at its Fort Wayne location. The project, which will see 50 jobs added per year for three years, is scheduled for completion in 2013.
“This expansion will be very beneficial to the future of Heritage Food Service,” said Bruce Dye, chief executive officer, in a news release. “We believe that Fort Wayne offers us an opportunity to work toward reaching our full potential as a business, and we want to take advantages of the benefits of expanding our facility here.”
President Dave Krites said today his office was flooded with calls Wednesday from construction companies hoping to get a piece of the pie, but Krites said the investment will not go to fund any new construction.
Instead, Krites said the Executive Boulevard facility is already sized for ample growth, and the main focus will be to ramp up infrastructure through training, information technology and staffing resources.
“We are very excited,” Krites said. “Fort Wayne has been an incredible community for us. This business has been here 22 years, and to be able to stay in Fort Wayne, to be able to continue to grow with local people, is just an amazing opportunity for us.
“Over the course of 22 years, we've found ourselves in a position to grow, and we're excited about that.”
The company, founded in 1987, describes itself as “the country's largest distributor of restaurant parts, food service replacement parts, food equipment parts, ice machine parts, cooking parts, restaurant repair parts, restaurant supplies, food service supplies, food service parts and restaurant equipment.”
Fort Wayne City Council will consider phasing in taxes associated with the project, with Heritage saving about $113,640 on real and personal property taxes over 10 years.
The company is also eligible for $16,000 in recruitment and assessment services, $108,000 in job specific training and $26,000 in computer-training services from WorkOne Northeast. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. will provide $1 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credits and $88,500 from the Skills Enhancement Fund.
