Dot Foods continues to grow, celebrating the official grand opening today of its tenth distribution center. Dot Foods Chicago, a 191,000-square-foot facility is located in the University Park Industrial Park at (251 Central Avenue, University Park, Illinois).
Volume growth in the Midwest drove the company's need for more warehouse capacity in the region. Dot purchased the property in late 2015 and transferred its existing cross-dock operation in Joliet, Illinois, into the new facility. The building included dry, frozen and cooler warehouse space. Over the last year, Dot added a gate station, garage, fuel station and scale to accommodate its trucking operations and make the facility a full distribution center. Work on the building will continue into 2018, with the addition enhanced break room facilities for employees.
"We are always excited to celebrate growth," said Dick Tracy, Dot Foods President. "Our tenth distribution center is a major milestone for the business, and most importantly, will allow us to better serve our customers. We select the locations of all our facilities to help make us more efficient by reducing our miles driven. Dot Foods Chicago is currently serving customers in Illinois and Indiana, and will play a key role in helping us move product within our network of distribution centers nationwide."
Dot currently employs more than 150 people at its Chicago facility. Over 100 of those were hired within the last year, with the remainder being employees who transferred from the company's former Joliet operation. Dot Foods Chicago is currently hiring both Regional Class A Company Delivery Drivers and Warehouse Order Selectors with a goal of employing 350 people from University Park and the surrounding area by 2020.
"We are assembling a fantastic team," said Mike Ford, Dot Foods Chicago General Manager. "We've received a warm welcome from the community here, and we're excited to find more great talent in the area to add to the Dot Foods family. We are ramping up the amount of volume this facility is handling. The growth plan is aggressive, and we're going to need to continue to add to our team to support that growth."
Those interested in pursuing a career with Dot can view all open positions and apply at DotFoods.com/careers. Dot Foods and Dot Transportation offer competitive wages and a top-tier benefits package including health insurance, prescription drug insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) with company match, profit sharing and college tuition reimbursement.
Dot Foods continues to experience exceptional growth, doubling in size nearly every five years. Dot currently sits at No. 65 on Forbes' List of America's Largest Private Companies for 2016 and employs more than 5,200 people nationwide. The company was started by Robert and Dorothy Tracy in the small town of Mt. Sterling, Illinois, in 1960 and remains owned and operated by the Tracy family today.