Sledd Co. Begins $13M Expansion Project
WHEELING, W. Va. -- A convenience store regional distributor is meeting its growth by building a new $13-million expansion project.
The Sledd Co. just broke ground on a 83,000-square-foot facility on its Elm Grove property. The facility will provide additional space for freezers, coolers and dry storage warehouse space to better accommodate convenience store customers, according to the The Intelligencer.
"Today's ceremony is a celebration of growth, jobs and opportunities for people to live and work in West Virginia," Randy Emanuelson, vice-president of Sledd Co., said at the May 18 the event.
Sledd is a $450-million distributor that serves convenience stores, cigarette and tobacco stores and other wholesale customers in six states. The company previously occupied a 15,000-square-foot, three-story building on Main Street before vacating that site in 1985 for its current location. The company will have nearly 200,000 square feet total when the new facility is completed.
"Over a number of years, we've expanded to fill up the building and we've added on to the building several times and we reached a point where physically we were constrained by the hillside behind us," said Rob Sincavich, president of Sledd Co. "So to continue to grow the business while we were at capacity, we had to look at either relocating or trying to do something in the adjacent area and our preference was really to try to stay here in the community that we've grown up in."
The company will hire 60 new employees to operate the new facility over a three-year period, adding to its current payroll of 225 people. The expansion has also provided construction jobs for community members, according to the report.
"We hope to add 60 new jobs in the relatively near future, but hopefully that's just the beginning of it. Hopefully we can expand upon that," Sincavich said. "We're glad to have a good job base. We're glad to try to be an example for other businesses that they shouldn't be afraid to expand in Wheeling."
Additionally, Sledd plans to remodel its interior corporate offices, and add new office space and more visibility for visiting customers during 2013. The company plans to move into the new space by January. There are also plans to implement upgrades for the current warehouse to improve the operational efficiency and working environment for the employees, the news report added.