Union Supply Group plans to open its North Jacksonville distribution center the third week of December and grow to 40 employees by the third quarter of 2013.
L.D. Hay, vice president of sales and development for the correctional industry commissary supplier, said the center will allow it to provide next-day service for customers in its Southeast U.S. region. Union Supply Group is based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., in the Los Angeles area.
Hay said the Jacksonville center will serve customers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and parts of Texas.
Hay said Union Supply provides bulk commissary items for resale and full commissary and package program services to correctional facilities nationwide at the local, state and federal level.
The unionsupply.com website shows the corporate offices in Rancho Dominguez and regional offices in Jacksonville; Groveport, Ohio; and Irving, Texas. It said the company has nearly 600,000 square feet of warehouse space at its distribution centers in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida,
Union Supply Group will occupy a 146,280-square-foot building at the Creekside Distribution Center at Jacksonville International Tradeport, near Jacksonville International Airport.
Hay said the warehouses also serve as "redundant distribution centers to one another in the event of a natural disaster or other significant disruption of operations at any one location."
Unionsupply.com shows operations in Jacksonville and lists a Florida regional office in Southpoint. Hay said the company has had a sales office in Jacksonville for two years. He said the sales team of six people will relocate to the new distribution center.
Hay said the center will start with the sales team and 10 warehouse employees and grow to 40 by the third quarter of 2013. He said the company does not have any contracts with the state of Florida but does work with local, state and federal correctional facilities in the Southeast region as well as nationwide.
The Jacksonville distribution center will expand the company's distribution center footprint, Hay said.
"We view Florida as a significant growth opportunity and hope to increase our business in this state," he said.
"Our goal in opening this warehouse is to increase our presence throughout the Southeast and particularly in the state of Florida, which we view as offering significant opportunities for expansion," he said.
Hay said Union Supply did not request incentives for the move.
Hay talked about Gov. Rick Scott's emphasis on economic development "because it sets the tone for government officials throughout the state in assisting businesses to establish themselves in Florida."
"The state of Florida is a very receptive environment for business expansion initiatives and creating jobs," he said. "I really do want to say thank you to the state and Governor Scott for being business friendly."
He said Jacksonville officials were "very helpful throughout the planning and permitting process."
The City approved a permit in September for Haskew Co. Inc. of Jacksonville to build out tenant improvements for Union Supply Group at 13903 Alvarez Road, which is near Jacksonville International Airport. The space is Building 2 in the Creekside center. The project cost was listed on the permit as $1.45 million.
The permit information shows 142,329 square feet of warehouse space and 3,951 square feet of office space.
Jarzyna & Associates of Amelia Island is the architect. The property owner is JSW Parcel 2 LLC, whose manager is Jackson-Shaw/Tradeport Land LP.
The 25-acre Creekside Distribution Center consists of three buildings and was developed by Jackson-Shaw, based in Dallas.
Union Supply Group, founded in 1991, says on its website that it has "grown into the most innovative and price-sensitive supplier of commissary goods and services. Union Supply provides food, apparel, footwear, electronics and personal-care products to state, federal and county correctional institutions nationwide."
The site says Union Supply Group offers more than 12,000 items "in secure, correctional-appropriate designs and packaging to meet the safety and security needs of the correctional industry."
The Union Supply website lists its divisions:
• Union Supply Company. It provides athletic footwear, sandals, work boots, electronics, clothing and miscellaneous hard-goods in the industry. Products include electronics in clear plastic cases and work boots to commissary and canteen managers across the country.
• Food Express USA. It provides food and personal-care products to commissaries and canteens. Food Express provides national and private label brands "in convenient and safe packaging."
• Union Supply Direct. It offers offender and/or friends and family package programs statewide or for individual institutions. Union Supply Direct offers the product range of Food Express and Union Supply Company as well as items acquired to meet special requests. Union Supply Direct also can work directly with correctional agencies to design programs like its offender "Dress Out Clothing Program," which provides "affordable, durable release clothing for offenders." It also offers religious items catalogs to "help agencies save money and reduce contraband by obtaining virtually everything they need inside a facility from a single provider through a completely secure distribution channel."
• US Commissary Solutions. It directly manages entire commissary operations for state and other large correctional agencies. US Commissary Solutions provides, implements and manages end-to-end solutions from kiosks in the lobby to the commissary and trust account software and hardware.
• US Jail Pay. It provides complete payment and money-management solutions specifically developed for jails and prisons.
The company said it has added a U-Technologies group to support its corrections-management applications and U-Tunes to support its digital content sales.
JanPak work continues
Work continues for JanPak Inc., a distributor of cleaning and packaging products for businesses, for its new space in the Crossroads Distribution Center at 6600 Pritchard Road.
In September, the City approved a build-out for 84,244 square feet of space at a project cost of $458,000. Last week, it approved the installation of commercial storage racks in Building 300 at a cost of $135,000. Deep South Electric Inc. is the contractor for both projects.
JanPak is based in Davidson, N.C.
The Daily Record reported previously JanPak signed a lease for the space in a previously unoccupied warehouse but will leave 90,000 square feet in a nearby industrial park. JanPak has been leasing space in the Westside Industrial Park.
JanPak is the first tenant in the speculative building built by Atlanta-based Republic Property Co.
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