February 26, 2015 - (Photo Album) - Portacool, celebrated the groundbreaking of their new global headquarters site located adjacent to the company’s manufacturing facility which is located at 721 FM 2468 in Center. The ceremony was held on Thursday, February 26, 2015 and was well attended with Portacool representatives, local residents and elected officials present for the event.
David Chadwick, City of Center Mayor, spoke of the 25 years of growth Portacool has demonstrated and looks forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary one day.
"It is great to be here. Realizing 25 years of success at Portacool it's really hard to believe for some of us who saw it in the very beginning, a very crude form of a product. One that was a vision that we kind of doubted would that be success," said Chadwick. "After 25 years, I believe we can call that success. I think what is so neat about it is that it is not a product that left where it started, it has every year progressed into something else. And so has your plant, so have your employees, starting out with a small group of around 30 people working for you and now over 300 people in your whole organization."
Rob Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer, expressed appreciation to the construction company responsible for the project and introduced Portacool employees over the project, "It was a pretty massive effort just to get to this point. Kingham Construction has really come through for us. I think every deadline we've given them they said wait a minute but they pulled it out. Internally, Henry Morris on the IT team, Diane Escanuelas is our project leader."
Ben Wulf, Portacool Chief Executive Officer, welcomed everyone attending the event and explained some of the benefits the new office will bring to the business and the community, "We appreciate y'all coming out and joining us this morning; this is certainly a very exciting, very momentous occasion for us at Portacool. As we think about what this office is, it's more than just four walls and a roof, it's a sign of prosperity, it's also a sign of permanency as we get ready to be a fixture or continue to be a fixture in Center in Shelby County for many years to come."
Wulf continued by thanking the City of Center, Shelby County and their legal representation at Mattauer Law Firm, "I would like to start by saying thank you to our City; we have had a lot of work from Chad [Nehring], Jim [Snider], our Mayor [David Chadwick] and all the good friends at the City to help make this possible. I would also like to thank all our friends at the county; they too have been big contributors to making this possible. Our Friends at the EDC (Economic Development Committee) are really responsible for helping this happen as well. Our law firm, Matt [Mettauer], Gavin [Midgley], April [Prince], appreciate all the support."
The employees and leadership which has represented Portacool in the past was also thanked by Wulf, "So, for all our employees, for all our leadership, both past and present many of which are with us this morning, Mr. Bill [Lloyd], Fred [Wulf], I know Rick [Campbell] couldn't be with us, we want to say thank you to y'all for y'all's vision, to y'all's leadership and to every single employee that has graced the walls of Portacool to make this what it is today."
The new $13,000,000 project includes the 13,500-square-foot corporate office which will house approximately 45 employees including the executive team, sales, marketing, customer service, accounting, IT, sourcing and logistics departments. The building will be built under the direction of local firms including Curtis Architecture and Kingham Construction – the lead developer/contractor. Construction is slated for completion in October 2015.
