Ryan Cos. U.S. Inc. broke ground earlier this month on an $11.5 million distribution center for The Toro Co. in Tomah, Wis.
The 354,000-square-foot building, which will be used to distribute Toro’s lawn-maintenance equipment, will replace a 310,000-square-foot distribution center Toro has operated in Baraboo, Wis., for almost two decades. Toro's lease there expires at the end of 2010.
The Tomah building is much closer to the company’s 490-employee, 35-year-old manufacturing plant in Tomah.
“The selected site in Tomah provides the greatest benefit in helping reduce operational costs while improving our productivity,” said Judy Altmaier, vice president of operations at Toro, in a press release.
The new distribution center, which will have 15-20 employees, will shorten the distance from factory to warehouse from 60 miles to one. The employees at Baraboo have been offered positions at the new facility, according to Toro.
Minneapolis-based Ryan will own the building, which sits on a 39-acre parcel about a mile southeast of Toro’s plant.
Ryan bought land from the city of Tomah and a private economic development group called Forward Tomah for a total of $192,000, said Casey Hankinson, director of development for Ryan who led the project for the developer.
The project faced a tight time frame and many obstacles, including access to highways and the mitigation of wetlands, he said.
Tad Jellison, from Jones Lang Lasalle, assisted Toro in its site search and the selection of Ryan.
The Tomah project is one of three manufacturing and logistics changes that Toro has announced recently.
In December, Toro said it’s closing its Simi Valley, Calif., plant bought in 2007 and transferring that work to its plants in Riverside, Calif., and Juarez, Mexico.
Toro also said last year that it was consolidating its Lincoln, Neb., distribution facility into its Beatrice, Neb., manufacturing plant.
The last time that Toro built a facility in the United States was in 1984 when it opened its Lakeville, Minnesota distribution center.
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