Convoy of Hope building $8M food packaging facility at HQ
BY: GEOFF PICKLE, DIGITAL EDITORgpickle@sbj.net
Posted online November 5, 2024 | 12:09 pm
Last edited 12:08 p.m., Nov. 6, 2024 [Editor's note: The groundbreaking ceremony date has been corrected.]
Around a year after opening its new headquarters in west Springfield, Convoy of Hope is adding a food packaging facility on the campus.
Ethan Forhetz, vice president of public engagement and the nonprofit's national spokesperson, said an Oct. 30 groundbreaking ceremony marked the official start of construction for the $8 million facility that would span 40,000 to 50,000 square feet.
"That allows us to package our own meals for our feeding programs, both internationally and domestically," Forhetz said.
Q and Co. LLC is serving as general contractor for the project designed by Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective, he said, pointing to a targeted completion date in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The project site is directly north of the David & Betty Cribbs World Distribution Center, Forhetz said. Convoy of Hope in October 2023 dedicated its $37 million, 200,000-square-foot Global Headquarters and Training Center, which is attached via a second-story skywalk to its 230,000-square-foot distribution center, according to past reporting.
Convoy of Hope ranked No. 3 this year on Springfield Business Journal's list of the area's largest local charitable nonprofits, with 283 local employees as of Feb. 5. The nonprofit reported a 2024 operating budget of $600 million.
Founded in 1994, the international humanitarian relief organization has served more than 250 million people, officials say.