Dot Foods, Mt. Sterling, Ill., broke ground today on its 12th distribution center, situated in Bear, Del.

The $36 million, 188,000-square-foot facility will be constructed on 35 acres of land, and will include offices, dry, refrigerated and frozen warehouse space and a truck yard and garage to service Dot’s fleet.

“A lot of work has been done to get us to this day, and we are excited to move this project into the next phase,” says Dick Tracy, president. “Dot Foods Delaware joins our other two East Coast locations, in Maryland and New York, and will allow us to even better serve our customers in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. We look forward to building relationships with many more people in the region as we become part of the Bear community.”

Dot will begin work on the Bear distribution center next month, with an estimated completion date for the fall 2019. Dot will hire up to 125 people in the first year, starting with truck drivers. The company has established a terminal location in nearby New Castle, Del., for its transportation operations.

Dot Foods Delaware will be led by general manager Joe Little, a 29-year veteran of the company. After spending 13 years in the corporate office, Little moved to Dot’s Maryland location, before transferring to Idaho to open that distribution center. For the last five years, Little has served as the general manager of Dot Foods New York.