Dot Foods breaks ground in Bullhead City
Company to team with MCC for truck driving training
BULLHEAD CITY – Dot Foods, the nation’s largest food industry redistributor, officially broke ground Wednesday on its 11th distribution center.
The new $30 million, 185,000-square-foot facility will be built on a 45-acre plot of land in Bullhead City located at 2565 Landon Drive near the Laughlin Bullhead International Airport. The development includes offices; dry, refrigerated and frozen warehouse space; and a truck yard and garage to service Dot’s fleet.
“We are excited to start the next phase of this project,” said Joe Tracy, Dot Foods CEO. “Our Bullhead City location will allow us to better serve our customers in Arizona, Nevada and California and become more efficient by reducing our miles driven. We’ve already received a warm welcome from city, county and state officials, and we look forward to building relationships with many more people in the region as we become a part of this community.”
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, along with city and county leaders, attended the ceremony.
“We’re so thrilled to be officially welcoming Dot Foods to Arizona,” Ducey said “Today’s groundbreaking is a huge win for Mohave County and the rest of our state. The jobs and investments created by this new facility will have a real, positive impact on Arizona families who are working toward a brighter future. We look forward to seeing Dot Foods thrive in the beautiful southwest desert.”
Tracy says Bullhead City Council, City Manager Toby Cotter and Mohave County Economic Development Director Bennett Bratley were instrumental in helping Dot make the decision to locate in Bullhead City. The company began work on the distribution center in mid-March, with an estimated completion date for the project of early 2018. Contractors are currently moving more than a quarter-million yards of material to develop the site. Rock will be harvested for landscape and soil stabilization needs.
Dot will hire up to 125 people in the first year, starting with truck drivers. Hiring for warehouse and support staff will begin this fall. Dot plans to employ 170 people by 2020.
Mohave County Supervisor Jean Bishop was at the groundbreaking and knows people will commute from Kingman to the facility.
“It was a good day. Not just for Bullhead City, but for Mohave County and the state,” she said. “This will open doors for other companies to look at Mohave County a little more seriously. Bring it our way.”
Kingman City Councilman and major economic development proponent Travis Lingenfelter was also at the ceremony.
“This is great progress and a tremendous win for the county and our region,” he said. “It’s going to help Kingman too. We have people working at the casinos and they’ll have another opportunity with Dot Foods.”
“It has been a real pleasure working with Dot Foods as they establish their 11th nationwide distribution center in Bullhead City,” said District 2 Supervisor Hildy Angius. “Today’s ground breaking is the culmination of months of preparation, planning, and partnerships between the State of Arizona, Mohave County, Bullhead City and Dot Foods. The direct and indirect jobs created by Dot Foods will provide good and sustainable wages to the current and future citizens of Mohave County.”
Dot is working with Mohave Community College to develop a commercial truck driver training program to support its driver hiring in the region. The company is in the process of setting up temporary offices at the Bullhead City MCC campus this spring while construction on the facility is underway. MCC has a truck driving range on the Neal-Campus Kingman and will be using it for the program.
“It is a college-wide program and since truck drivers (trainees) need roadwork, we’ll most likely be using several locations for their training,” said MCC spokesman James Jarman.
“We have been working on this new location for several years,” Tracy explained. “A lot goes into our decision to build a new distribution center. We’re very happy to now be at the point that we can start meeting with potential employees and build the team that’s going to be the key to our success in this area.”
Dot’s Class A regional driver positions are currently posted on DriveforDot.com. Hiring for additional driver jobs will begin later this month. Dot will employ 30 drivers and 50 warehouse personnel and support staff ahead of the Bullhead City distribution center’s opening in early 2018.
All open positions can be viewed at DotFoods.com/careers. Dot Foods and Dot Transportation offer competitive wages and a top-tier benefit package including health insurance, prescription drug insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) with company match, profit sharing and college tuition reimbursement.
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