From left to right, Jeff Hill, vice president of operations; Carrie Jones Barber, chief executive officer; and Eric Metzendorf, president, bakery distribution, celebrate the breaking ground of Dawn Food Products' new distribution center in Indiana.

Dawn Food Products, Jackson, Mich., broke ground on a new 116,000-square-foot distribution center in the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads near Broadway and 101st Avenue.

The facility, located on Purdue Research Park property at 9601 Georgia St., will employ more than 70 employees from Dawn’s two facilities in Crown Point and Munster that will consolidate into the Merrillville facility upon its scheduled completion in September. The facility will stock 3,000 unique products serving the baking industry and fill more than 30,000 orders.

“All the team members and drivers will be working in this area, shopping in this area, eating in this area,” says Eric Metzendorf, president. “This is a lot of economic activity, and it’s a great opportunity for us all.”

The new facility is projected to use about a third of the power as the two facilities it’s replacing. It’s being designed and built by Tippmann Group, Fort Wayne, Ind.