The Scoop - March 16, 2015
Posted by Elizabeth Brown
on Mar 16, 2015
SpartanNash is a leader in food distribution.
Following an invocation by David Runk and the Sergeant at Arms report by Tony Cox, President Esther Baldridge read thank you notes from the Abilities Baseball League and Allen/Lima Leadership for the Rottery donations. She also thanked the Lima News for the outstanding Rotary Centennial insert and encouraged members to take one home.
Jeff Tracy pitch-hit a St. Patrick’s themed fellowship before auctioning a grill donated by Lowe’s to Bob Christian. Thank you Bob! Commissioner Jay Begg presented a proclamation honoring our centennial to the Club from the Allen County Commissioners, and Dale Llewellyn passed the bucket to support the new Interact club.
Cindy Wood introduced our speaker, Greg Ratliff from Spartan Nash, who added part 3 of our Food Services discussion. Spartan merged with Nash Finch in November 2014 to create Spartan Nash, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Greg explained the company’s 3 lines of business: food distribution, retail stores and military distribution. Spartan Nash is the fifth largest food distributor in the country, representing more than $8 billion in sales annually. Lima is one of 12 distribution centers around the country. The Lima Distribution Center occupies 500,000 square feet in a multi-temp building and employs 260 people in warehousing and transportation.