By Anita Redding

December 8, 2006...A new Frito-Lay product exchange center is being built at the Jefferson Industrial Park.

During a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday afternoon, Robert Hayes Jr., the company’s project manager, said the facility should be ready for use by April.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by the developer of the property, and members of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s a very positive day for Pine Bluff,” said Lou Ann Nisbett, president and chief executive officer of The Alliance.  The facility will be a “cutting edge, state-of-the-art” product exchange center, she added. 

The 4,000 square-foot building is being built at 4 Constitution Cove, according to Aurora Gonzales, public relations director with Frito-Lay.  The company has not determined how many employees will be needed to staff the facility, she added.

The center, which will provide Frito-Lay products for sales personnel who deliver in the Pine Bluff/White Hall area, will use a new program that will improve the company’s distribution process, Gonzalez said.

The building will be built by Scott and Karen Richardson of Warren, and Frito-Lay will then lease the building from them.  Simmons and Sons Construction of Warren is the general contractor for the project.

Mike Guffey, district manager, and Shawn O’Riley, zone operations manager, also attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Once operations at the new facility at the industrial park begin, the company’s older facility in the area will be closed, Gonzalez said.