Americold, Arkansas Officials Kick Off $90M Expansion
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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders helped open a $90 million cold storage and distribution facility expansion by Americold to strengthen the state’s food supply chain.
Sanders recently joined with state and local officials as well as Americold Realty Trust (Americold) executives for a ribbon-cutting at the facility in Russellville, located at the intersection of Interstate 40 and state Highway 7, about 70 miles west of Little Rock.
“It was an honor to join the Americold team to open their newest expansion in Russellville. Low taxes, a friendly business environment, and my administration’s focus on education and workforce give Arkansas a competitive edge. I’m glad companies like Americold see our advantage and are doubling down on the Natural State,” Sanders said.
Atlanta-based Americold ranks No. 32 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America. It is the world’s largest publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses. Americold operates 11 sites in Arkansas and 245 facilities worldwide.
Clint O’Neal, the executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, welcomed the company’s growth, which he said “highlights our state’s strength in the food and beverage industries, as well as our geographic importance in the distribution and logistics of the cold storage supply chain.”
Investing $90 million and creating 30 jobs in the Russellville expansion, Americold constructed a highly automated 131,000-square-foot cold storage and distribution facility at its existing facility. It also added 42,000 pallet positions and enlarged the location by 13 million cubic feet.
Americold CEO George Chappelle said, “This facility was built with state-of-the-art automation to support production and the supply chain for one of North America’s leading branded food companies. We continue to innovate to provide best-in-class service for our customers as we help them feed the world.”
As part of the company’s commitment to give back to local communities it serves, Americold and Feed the Children joined after the ceremony to support more than 300 Russellville families, giving each family a 25-pound box of food and a 15-pound box of essential personal care items.
Russellville Mayor Fred Teague praised the company as a valued community partner “not only contributing to local employment but also impacting families worldwide” that provides a great example “of our strong local industry in the Arkansas River Valley.”
According to Americold’s Dec. 31, 2023, annual report, the company served 3,800 customers, which were mainly producers, distributors, retailers and electronic retailers of frozen and perishable food products, such as fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, novelties, dairy and packaged foods.
“Although we own or hold leasehold interests in warehouses across the United States and globally, many of these warehouses are concentrated in a few geographic areas. For example, approximately 41% of our owned or leased warehouses are located in six states; with approximately 11.2% in Georgia, 7.9% in New Jersey, 6.9% in Pennsylvania, 5.2% in Arkansas, 5.1% in Texas and 4.9% in California,” the report stated.
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