SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va.– Officials at Frito Lay say a new state of the art facility in West Virginia will serve their needs for distribution for many years into the future.
The new warehouse and distribution center opened at the Teays Valley exit of I-64 in Putnam County. The facility is four times the size of the former facility which was used for many years in Poca.
“It’s really big. It’s got 35 loading docks which is amazing,” said Laura Maxwell, Senior Vice-President of Supply Chain for Pepsico Foods.
The 70,000 square foot facility represents a $16 million dollar investment.
“This location has always been important to us, but we were just outgrowing Poca. But we wanted to stay here so we said, let’s just build something massive and state of the art in the same area and that’s what we did,” Maxwell explained.
The location is key for Frito Lay’s service in the mid-Atlantic Region.
“We have manufacturing facilities in a lot of the surrounding states and they ship product to West Virginia and states that surround West Virginia. It’s the perfect location. It’s a hub for all of these plants to send their products. Then we can organize orders to ship back out to customers all over the region,” she explained.
Although Maxwell said the Scott Depot warehouse could accommodate products from any of their manufacturing sites nationwide, it will likely serve as the distribution point for snacks produced at plants in Wooster, Ohio, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Lynchburg, Virginia.
While the location is attractive, Maxwell said it was more than just the geography which kept them here.
“I feel like we have a really rich history in West Virginia. We’ve been in the state from a Pepsico perspective for over four decades. I feel like we have a really great relationship with the state of West Virginia and the people who work in our facilities in both sales and operations are fantastic,” she said.
About 100 employees transferred from the old Poca warehouse to Scott Depot. The expansion also created 25 new jobs for the facility.
To demonstrate their appreciation for the Mountain State the company unveiled two tractor trailer trucks featuring their mascot Chester Cheeto and the Wild, Wonderful West Virginia logo.
“If you see them, you’ll know it. Those will certainly travel in West Virginia, but also elsewhere so no matter where they are, people will know about our love for West Virginia,” she said.