SYSCO to build 1,000-employee distribution center in LV area

Friday, Oct. 13, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.

Houston-based SYSCO Corp., North America's largest food marketer and distributor, will build a new Las Vegas-area facility that would employ 1,000 people within five years.

The company, which has more than 356,000 customers and 40,000 employees nationwide, will build the $25 million, 250,000-square-foot plant at an undetermined location.

A spokeswoman for the company said the company is reviewing sites in Henderson and North Las Vegas and will announce later where the plant would be built. Initially, the company is expected to employ 420 people at the plant.

The company is planning a "fold-out" strategy -- the opening of a new facility in an area with an established customer base that is serviced from other cities.

SYSCO already has a specialty produce facility in Las Vegas, but its broader operation is served from Phoenix and Salt Lake City.

Last month, the company failed in its bid to receive a $525,000 tax break to build the plant in Clark County. SYSCO's application was rejected by the Economic Development Commission, which concurred that the company was impressive, but wasn't eligible for the tax break under existing guidelines.

The SYSCO plant is ineligible for the tax break because it would compete with local companies in distributing food to local restaurants, casinos, hospitals, nursing homes and schools. The company tried to get the tax break because it would also serve parts of Arizona and Utah from the new plant and not compete with local companies in those markets.