JD Food hosted a ribbon-cutting Wednesday for its new 65,000 square-foot distribution center in southeast Fresno as part of a expansion plan that will add more than 144 new employees by 2025.

Work began on the $10.5 million facility at the end of 2015, and over the last six years the company has tripled in size.

The expansion also accommodates the continued growth of its affiliated company, Certified Meat Products, by allowing it to expand into JD Food’s existing 52,000 square-foot processing and distribution center also located in southeast Fresno.

As part of the firm’s expansion plan, it hopes to add more than 144 new employees for a total workforce of 288 by 2025. The site is on Edgar Avenue between Maple and Dearing avenues.

“Today marks an important step towards increasing our distribution footprint to the north and south, permitting our third generation, family-run company to better address the unique service needs of regional accounts throughout California. Our new state-of-the-art facility could not be located in a more ideal location for distributing to California and offers our team the added space needed to nurture and grow our existing customer base,” said Mark Ford, president of JD Food, in a statement.

About 100 people attended the ribbon cutting and dedication, including Fresno Mayor Lee Brand and Fresno County Supervisor Sal Quintero.

JD Food had considered Madera for its expansion site, but the Fresno City Council approved a package of incentives in 2015 that ultimately convinced company officials to expand here. As part of the deal, JD Food will not have to pay any business license taxes for the next five years, and the city waived a handful of impact fees totaling $51,000, for a total package of $410,000 through 2025.

“We are thrilled to have our expanded facility up and running in Fresno, a place that we have always called home. On behalf of the entire JD Food family — we are grateful to the City of Fresno for their commitment to local business and for their unwavering support throughout the development process,” Ford said. “This expansion will create much opportunity in the Valley and beyond, as we grow our commitment to discover independent, local food companies and expand their distribution footprint.”

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