Shamrock's Distribution Center Will Be One of N.M.'s Largest
By Richard Metcalf
Journal Staff Writer
Shamrock Foods Co. will add more than 100 new jobs in the Albuquerque metro area next year when it opens a 180,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on the West Side.
And that number is expected to keep growing.
"Albuquerque is an expansion market for us," said Tom Haberkorn, the company's general manager in New Mexico.
The distribution center will be one of the largest in the state and could be the harbinger of more such projects because of the area's tremendous growth, one local real estate analyst said.
Shamrock Foods is one of the nation's largest food service companies, with about 1,500 customers in its New Mexico service area.
"Our business is primarily in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, served out of Denver," Haberkorn said. "We also do quite a lot of business in southern New Mexico and El Paso from our Phoenix center."
The central part of the state, however, has been a missing link.
The Albuquerque distribution center on a 46-acre site at Paseo del Volcan, north of Interstate 40, is expected to begin operations in the summer of 2007. As the company's base of restaurant, hospitality and institutional customers grows in Albuquerque and elsewhere, more jobs will be added.
The first round of hiring, expected to begin in the late spring of next year, will involve warehouse positions, transportation supervisors and drivers, sales managers and representatives, and customer service representatives.
"Shamrock is always very competitive in its pay for a market," Haberkorn said. "Shamrock also provides a very comprehensive benefits package."
In the meantime, Haberkorn has relocated from Phoenix to Albuquerque with his family. "We're here to get to know our customers and the community," he said.
Shamrock is in final negotiations with contractors to build the distribution center and hopes to break ground by the end of the month, he said.
Shamrock's 180,000-square-foot building will be among the 10 biggest distribution facilities in the state, said Jim Chynoweth, an industrial specialist with CB Richard Ellis.
Albuquerque is not generally considered a distribution hub, so Shamrock's move can be seen as recognition of the metro's growth.
"We've historically been distributed into from Denver and Phoenix," Chynoweth said. "Now we have a distributor based in those markets that feels (Albuquerque) is big enough to put a facility."
Privately owned and headquartered in Phoenix, Shamrock Foods has more than 2,100 employees in its food service and dairy subsidiaries.
The company's two existing distribution centers— 300,000 square feet in Phoenix and 270,000 square feet in Denver— cover nine states in the Southwest.
Although on a smaller scale, the Albuquerque center will distribute the same line of products and supplies as the larger facilities. They include frozen and dry foods, produce, dairy products, fresh meat and seafood.
The company has a tradition of community involvement, including donations to food banks and participation in the United Way, according to a news release.
"We've been involved in a lot of the things that are important to us and our customers as well," Haberkorn said.
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