Americold to invest $84 million in Russellville operation

Americold is investing $84 million in its Russellville cold-storage operation and will add 30 jobs to the more than 70 now employed when the project is finished in late 2022, the company announced Friday (June 18).

The Atlanta-based company is a temperature-controlled warehousing and transportation services provider for the food industry and in April 2019 acquired the company that owned Zero Mountain operations in Arkansas in a $1.24 billion deal. Americold operates 242 facilities in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America. Ten of its facilities are in Arkansas.

“We are excited to expand our presence in the state of Arkansas,” stated Fred Boehler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Americold. “The Russellville facility will be highly automated to provide mission critical, long term infrastructure for one of our top tier strategic customers and one of North America’s leading branded food companies.”

Americold has begun work a new 131,000-square-foot cold storage and distribution facility at its Russellville site. The new facility will feature high-bay automation to maximize footprint efficiency and lower energy costs. With this expansion, Americold will add 13 million cubic feet to the facility, creating approximately 42,000 pallet positions for product storage. This facility will be built to suit the operational needs of Conagra Brands, one of Americold’s top customers.

“With 10 facilities throughout the state including its Russellville site, Americold is a valued member of Arkansas’ business community,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. “I’m pleased that Americold continues to have confidence in our business environment, and I wish them much success in the future.”

Americold has entered a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city of Russellville to abate up to 65% of property taxes for 20 years. The company also qualified for the AEDC Advantage Arkansas Program, which provides state income tax credit for job creation based on the number of new employees hired as a result of the project, and the AEDC Tax Back Program, which provides sales tax refunds on building materials, taxable machinery, and equipment associated with the project.