CFM again delays corporate park plan

CFM Food Distributors Inc. will again delay its new warehouse in Jefferson County Corporate Park and has laid off some workers.

Company officials have not returned numerous phone calls in recent weeks, but the construction is on hold "until they sort out the scope and size the building would be," said Donald C. Alexander, chief executive officer of Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency.

CFM is looking for a third-party evaluation on the size of the project. That's on top of advice from Michael E. Lundy, owner of Lunco Corp., West Carthage, who encouraged the company to build a smaller warehouse, which was approved in February. That was after CFM officials recognized a staged project would be more affordable than building the entire warehouse at once.

The agency operates the corporate park and approved again in February a grant-loan package to encourage the project.

Mr. Alexander met with CFM officials on Friday, who he said have been "very forthcoming with information." They confirmed that layoffs have taken place recently.

The group did not discuss what effects the layoffs and their cause would have on the new warehouse.

CFM, 580 W. Main St., planned in February to downsize the project from about 80,000 square feet to about 50,000 square feet. That would reduce the cost from about $10 million to $6 million.

The agency signed an incentive package with the distributor, including a $375,000 loan and $200,000 grant, plus an additional $110,000 grant that will convert to a loan if employment falls below 150 people. In February, the food distributor had more than 80 employees, a number which could nearly double in the new facility.

JCIDA has sold 16.13 acres to the company for $282,000.

About $1 million in site work has been done at the location, Mr. Alexander said. The project must begin by February 2012.

The Watertown-based company was founded in 1924 and is in the third generation of family owners. CFM, formerly known as California Fruit Markets Inc., has more than 2,000 customers in 19 states and Puerto Rico, according to company literature in February.

In November 2007, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Md., filed suit against CFM. The lawsuit, for $2.6 million, alleged the company stopped a proposed expansion project after work already had started on the lot. The company had agreed to a settlement with the contractor near the end of 2009 for a smaller amount.