United States Cold Storage, Voorhees, N.J., completed a 4.1 million-cubic-foot expansion in Wilmington, Ill., further strengthening its Midwest storage and distribution capabilities.

Built in 2009, the Wilmington facility is about 60 miles southwest of Chicago and works with sister sites in nearby Minooka and Lyons, Ill. The Phase 2 addition boosted the operation’s cold storage capacity to nearly 10 million cubic feet and 16,000 pallet positions. Specifically, Wilmington added three rooms, including one dedicated freezer room and two others with convertible temperature controls. USCS Wilmington had been operating at maximum levels and needed more dock space and loading doors, says Greg Rohrbaugh, general manager.

“Expansion means great things for USCS Wilmington,” adds Dave Butterfield, vice president and area manager-Midwest. “It means that our presence is strong and the services we offer are ones our customers are looking for.”

In fact, USCS’ multi-vendor freight consolidation program “is definitely the driver of our business” in transportation services for USCS and its three Chicago-area locations, notes Rohrbaugh.

More importantly, there’s room to grow. USCS Wilmington sits on a developed 35-acre site with room for two more expansions. Officials say the operation has a build-out capacity of nearly 18 million cubic feet with more than 67,000 pallet positions. Wilmington offers sub-zero storage at temperatures from -10°F to 50°F. It has an enclosed, refrigerated 65-foot loading dock and 41-truck dock doors. It offers custom distribution programs, specialized case picking and order assembly, slip sheet loading/unloading, stretch wrapping for palletized orders, USDA inspection services and documentation and import-export services.

Officials note that future expansion could include rail access and docks if required.