Wirtz Beverage Illinois and Wirtz Realty Group, joined by Mayor John Mohr and local elected officials, unveiled the vision of a 50,000-square-foot Heartland headquarters for the beverage company in Lexington, Ill. Standing on 14 acres, the distribution center will serve the central and southern Illinois regions and consolidate smaller facilities throughout the state.
“This marks an important day for Wirtz Beverage as we expand upon the investments we have made in our home state of Illinois,” said Rocky Wirtz, president of Wirtz Beverage Group. “We have been operating statewide for a number of years however these new facilities allow us to better coordinate our logistics, service customers and ultimately be more efficient in growing our business.”
The facility will include 15,000 square feet of office space and a 35,000-square-foot warehouse, along with 20 truck docks. In addition, the site will serve as the hub for the company’s Heartland sales force, drawing team members from across the region.
“It’s a huge project for the city and it may be the single largest private investment that we’ve seen in many, many years,” Mohr said. “The folks at Wirtz Realty and Wirtz Beverage have been great to work with and it is no doubt they will be a great benefit to McLean County. Wirtz Beverage has a strong history of being a community partner, and we welcome its team to Lexington.”
Among those also in attendance at the groundbreaking were Julian Burzynski, executive vice president of Wirtz Beverage Group, Anthony Iatarola, senior vice president, Wirtz Realty Group, Illinois State Sen. Jason Barickman and State Rep. Dan Brady.
The Heartland facility is expected to be fully operational by early 2014.
