The addition of nearly 29,000 square feet of storage space to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Food Distribution warehouse in Butner will support the division’s efforts to get food onto dinner tables and into school cafeterias across the state. Ten years in the making, a ribbon cutting in late July officially opened the addition and celebrated the completion of the project.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Walter Beal, director of the Food Distribution Division. “Having this extra space is going to really, really help us in what we do.”
Before the addition, the Butner warehouse totaled around 85,000 square feet. The project added a total of 28,879 square feet to the existing warehouse, of which about 20,000 square feet is dry storage space. A refrigerated dock and thousands of square feet of freezer storage was also added. The addition also includes a new warehouse office and restrooms.
Representatives from congressional leadership and local government officials, as well as NCDA&CS staff and partners from area food banks, attended the celebration.
“This is a special occasion for us at the department, but it’s also a special occasion for everyone in North Carolina,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “This project is more than just a warehouse addition. This added space represents compassion and hope to many across the state who depend on the USDA commodities that come through this warehouse to make ends meet.”
The Food Distribution Division administers six food programs for USDA, contributing to the nutritional well-being of the citizens of North Carolina. The division operates two state warehouses working to distribute USDA foods to eligible Recipient Agencies across the state.
The added dry storage space will be used largely to support the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides a box of food each month to low-income seniors. Ten years ago, this program served just 1,100 people in one county in the state. Now, CSFP provides food to nearly 16,000 people across 70 counties.
Beal said the expansion of the warehouse will allow the division to ship USDA foods to partner agencies on a more structured basis. The size and storage limitations of the original warehouse prevented the short- or long-term storage of food, especially in busier seasons, meaning food had to be distributed almost as quickly as was received. Now, with additional storage space, the division will be able to space out distribution in a way that will benefit partner agencies and program recipients alike.
This project has been 10 years in the making. Gary Gay, then director of the Food Distribution Division, tasked Beal with drawing up a plan and cost estimate for this project. Beal had spent over 18 years as a general contractor before joining the department. It took over six years to secure funding for the much-needed addition, but the division “made it work” and continued distributing food across the state, even amid a global pandemic and continued population growth.
“This is a project that we have worked on a long, long time, but it’s one that is going to pay big dividends to the people of North Carolina,” Troxler said.
Thank you to the following key partners in the design and construction of the warehouse addition: Smith Sinnett (design); Bass, Nixon and Kennedy, Inc. (engineering); The Christman Company (construction); CoolSys (freezer system design); State Construction Office; and NCDA&CS Property & Construction.