Americold Realty Trust, a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics, real estate, and value-added services, has broken ground on a new USD 127 million cold storage facility in Kansas City, Missouri.

“Americold is yet another example of an industry-leading employer choosing Missouri due to our economic advantages. This is a welcome addition to the region’s thriving logistics sector. We look forward to the benefits that this investment will provide for Missourians,” Governor Mike Parson said.

The company plans to create nearly 190 new jobs in the region. The new 335,000-sqft facility in Kansas City is part of a strategic collaboration with Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) to co-locate Americold warehouse facilities on the CPKC network.

“This facility is the first to be built as part of our strategic collaboration with CPKC. By combining our cold storage capabilities with CPKC’s extensive rail network, Americold is poised to deliver a differentiated offering to support more customers across North America,” George Chappelle, CEO, Americold, said.

Commenting on the development, Keith Creel, President and CEO, CPKC said, “This groundbreaking for this new facility marks the beginning of a significant collaboration that shows what we can achieve with vision and working together for our customers. This project is the first of many across our network and, when combined with our unparalleled cross-border service, will build a new refrigerated supply chain for our customers.”

The new facility will support CPKC’s Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) service, North America’s only single-line rail service offering for refrigerated shippers between US Midwest markets and Mexico. It will also enable more seamless and efficient service for MMX customers.

“With the ability to tap into our talented, highly skilled workforce and our centralised Canadian Pacific Kansas City transportation system allowing access to more consumers internationally, Kansas City is the prime location for an innovative company like Americold to plant its roots,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

“Americold is joining more than 20,000 distribution and logistics companies in the state who are benefitting from Missouri’s central location, solid infrastructure, and low business costs. We look forward to watching Americold’s facility take shape and seeing their success unfold here in Missouri,” Subash Alias, CEO of Missouri Partnership, said.

Steven Anthony, Vice President of Business Development for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City Missouri and Michelle Hataway, Director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development were also present at the occassion.

Missouri Partnership worked with several partners to attract Americold to Kansas City, including: the City of Kansas City, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, KC SmartPort, Missouri Department of Economic Development, Missouri One Start, Evergy, and Spire.