Maines Paper & Food plans $15M expansion in Conklin

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Sep 08, 2006 by Erbstoesser, Greg

CONKLIN - Maines Paper & Food Service, Inc. - one of the nation's largest food service distributors, which also has a retail food-and-party warehouse sales outlet in North Syracuse - is in major expansion mode at its corporate headquarters just south of Binghamton.

The nation's fifth-largest independent food distribution company, with annual sales of $1.95 billion, proposes to add another 153,000 square feet to its 468,000-square-foot complex in the Broome Corporate Park in Conklin.

The estimated cost of the project is $15 million to build and equip the two new structures, according to paperwork filed with the Broome County Industrial Development Agency (IDA).

Maines proposes to build a 76,400-square-foot addition to its sprawling corporate and distribution center at 101 Broome Corporate Parkway. The cost of the addition is pegged at $4.8 million, according to Richard D'Attilio, IDA executive director.

The company also proposes to build a separate, freestanding 76,655-square-foot distribution center at nearby Maple Drive, Conklin, for an estimated cost of $9.98 million, D'Attilio says.

The new building will have cooler and freezer space, drystorage areas, loading docks, and offices, while the addition will be for a dry-storage warehouse with loading dock.

Maines, established in 1919, is a privately run, family-owned company, whose territory sweeps across the Northeast, Midwest, and mid-Atlantic states, and as far west as Wyoming and Montana, and south to Georgia and Louisiana.

The local Syracuse Food & Party Warehouse at 628 S. Main St., North Syracuse, is the company's retail division, and offers to the public a full selection of institutional products including fresh meat, produce, frozen appetizers, paper products, janitorial goods, foodservice equipment, party supplies, and the largest beverage center in upstate New York, according to the company.

Among its list of commercial and restaurant clients are Wendy's, Burger King, and Olive Garden, to name just a few.

Maines delivers to single-unit and regional chain restaurants, educational institutions, health-care facilities, convenience stores, cruise lines, and camps, according to the company.

In all, Maines operates 10 regional distribution centers: three in Conklin, two in Chicago, and centers in Farmingdale; Savage, Md.; Westborough, Mass.; Oakwood, Ohio; and Arlington, Tenn.

Maines is seeking IDA financial assistance in the form of mortgage- and sales-tax exemptions for the Conklin project, which also would involve a 15-year, in-lieu-of tax payment schedule. The company would seek private financing of the project, however, D'Attilio explains.

The new, expanded facilities would add another 228 jobs over three years after the facilities open, according to D'Attilio.

As part of its expansion plan, D'Attilio says Maines plans to purchase about six acres of IDA property, located on Maple Drive and next to about 7.7 acres Maines already owns, to make a 14.1-acre parcel for the planned new plant. Sale price for the IDA property was not disclosed.

"They're really on a fast track," D'Attilio says of the Maines project, noting company officials approached the agency in early June to discuss the project. D'Attilio says the company hopes to begin construction late this year and have the facilities up and running by the end of 2007.

Christopher Mellon, Maines' CEO, declined to comment on the expansion plans, saying only the project was prompted by new business developments.

"It's a business opportunity we've been presented with," Mellon says, adding he anticipates a formal announcement in several weeks. The IDA will hold a public hearing on the Maines' financial assistance application Oct. 6, with formal approval possible at the agency's Oct. 13 regular meeting, D'Attilio says.

On another front, Maines plans to relocate its Johnson City Food & Party Warehouse to the closed Morey's Restaurant property at 1018 Upper Front St., town of Chenango.

The Johnson City building on Grand Avenue was destroyed by the late-June flooding that engulfed large sections of the Southern Tier bordering the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers.

Brothers. David J. and William R. Maines, co-chairmen of Maines Paper & Food Service Inc., purchased the Morey's Restaurant property and adjoining parking lot, about 3.7 acres, for $708,000, in 2003, according to Broome County property records.

The properties were purchased by the Maines' W&D Leasing, LLC,, which lists its address as the Maines' Conklin corporate offices.

W&D Leasing also owns three small parcels of commercial land, about 1.5 acres, at 1015-1019 Upper Front St., across the street from the Morey's property, according to county records.