Cleco Power announced the groundbreaking for the new Agile Cold Storage distribution facility in Pearl River, Louisiana.
Construction has already started on the 150,000 square foot facility, representing a $46 million investment and more than 100 new jobs, with a payroll of more than $5 million.
Additionally, the CEO Don Schoenl indicated that they may be adding an additional 40,000 square feet, for an ice-making facility, which would further add to the estimated four megawatts of current load expected to be contracted. That announcement could be coming in as soon as the next few weeks.
Based in Gainesville, Georgia, Agile blast-freezes and packs food for shipping. The Pearl River facility will be busy: The company expects to send about 100 containers of food shipments from the new facility to the Port of New Orleans for export every week, officials said when announcing the project this spring.
Construction is expected to wrap up by March 2025, Agile’s Schoenl said.
Cleco is partnering with Agile to provide a fleet electrification assessment involving the potential for Agile to take advantage of all electric Class Eight heavy duty trucks for transporting products between Pearl River and the Port of New Orleans.
