Distribution company announces expansion The local distributorship plans to move into a larger Port-owned property and add jobs at its Walla Walla plant.
By VICKI HILLHOUSE of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Beverage distribution company The Odom Corp. plans to merge its operations in the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla with a major expansion on Isaacs Avenue.
Officials this morning announced the local distributorship plans to move from its 20,000-square-foot digs on Abadie Street into about 75,000 square feet of Port of Walla Walla property at 3301 E. Isaacs Ave.
Port commissioners were expected to give final approval on the agreement today.
The consolidation will add about five full-time positions and three to five part-time jobs, depending on the season, said Jack Cosgrove, manager for the company's local division.
Odom Northwest Beverage, the local division of The Odom Corp., distributes beer, wine, soft drinks and water _ from Coors and Miller to Pellegrino and Perrier.
The company started in Alaska seven decades ago and moved to Walla Walla in 1999, after purchasing the Hewitt Distributing Co. In January, it purchased rights from Columbia Distribution Co. for all of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
Along with it, Odom bought a warehouse in Kennewick, where it's also been operating.
Though the expansion will help integrate the two plants, the project means Walla Walla won't lose Odom's 20 existing local jobs to another community, said Jim Kuntz, executive director of the Port of Walla Walla.
``For the Port, it became a business retention issue,'' he said. ``They also looked very hard at the Tri-Cities as a place for a distribution center.
``We just really wanted them to stay in Walla Walla and keep the employment base here.''Kuntz said Odom signed a five-year lease with two five-year options. A clause in the agreement allows the company to buy out its lease after the first three years.
Monthly rent will be $13,200. Odom will also pay a monthly state leasehold tax _ which is charged in lieu of property tax _ of 12.84 percent, Kuntz said. Total monthly charges for the space will be roughly $14,900.
Kuntz said that money will pay back improvements the Port intends to make to the building and property.
About $500,000 in improvements will take place starting immediately. Those include work on the docks outside the building, concrete work, paint, enhancements to lighting and a new fence.
Odom will have access to the building starting Feb. 1, Kuntz said. But because the company is working to consolidate some of its business, lease payments are not due until April 1.
Kuntz said most of the improvements that will be made are general upgrades to the building. If Odom were to exercise its option to buy out the lease after three years _ or even if it were to move after five years _ Kuntz said the Port would be left with a ``building significantly improved.''Odom will occupy about two-thirds of the space at the Isaacs Avenue plant. The company will use 72,320 square feet of manufacturing space and 2,776 space from a detached office building. Another 17,280 square feet of space will remain unused in the manufacturing plant.
Kuntz said the Port acquired that property in 1999.
Tenants have come and gone since then. Once the home of Strauser Manufacturing, the former maker of Lincoln Logs, the building's last major tenant was a trucking company. Tate Transportation Inc. used the facility as a warehouse for storing food-grade cans.
Kuntz said that lease ended in June. The building has been vacant since.
Cosgrove said plans for the facility will provide a more comfortable environment for Odom Northwest Beverage as its parent company continues in acquisition mode.
He said the company decided to stay in Walla Walla because here it found the right building with the right terms to go with it. Flexibility was important, he said.
``We don't know what the business will look like in five years,'' Cosgrove said. ``It may make sense that we end up in the Tri-Cities and service Walla Walla from there.''For the time being, he said the Isaacs Avenue site will meet the needs of the company over the next few years.
``(The Port) worked very diligently to get us into that building, so we could retain the jobs here in Walla Walla,'' Cosgrove said. ``That's been the best option for us.''Vicki Hillhouse can be reached at vhillhouse@ubnet.com or by calling 5253300, ext. 284.
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