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we continued to operate the cold storage here in Northwest Florida . Unfortunately , the Panhandle in the Gulf Coast got hit with a series of hurricanes back-to-back – Hurricane Ivan , Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Katrina – and the cold storage building suffered significant damages . We weathered through that yet had to move into some other facilities to continue operations and still continued to service much of our customer base . Through an interesting sequence of events , I met Joe and we realized that we had a lot in common . We felt a partnership could bring about a resurgence in cold storage operations after all the damage we ’ d suffered .”
“ Bill and I became acquainted around a year ago and we hit it off ,” Joe adds . “ It was an immediate friendship that ’ s ultimately given birth to a business partnership as well .”
Now , having significantly outgrown its existing infrastructure , Damian ’ s is building a brand-new facility in Milton , Florida that it will share with ATL , as both businesses remain
poised for growth . This major investment will see an innovative , accessible campus equipped with cutting-edge technology and spacious warehousing to optimize operations and increase capacity .
“ The new building in Milton is strategically located off of Interstate 10 ,” Bill explains . “ From the transportation side , it ’ s going to offer very easy access . A lot of our customer base are excited about the move .”
“ Our new campus will be a dual-purpose facility made up of three buildings ,” Joe details . “ It will be the headquarters for both ATL and Damian ’ s . We ’ ll share the facility and operate as a combined entity – a true legal partnership where we ’ re joined at the hip . “ This is a really exciting opportunity to bring new state-of-the-art technology into the facility . We plan to bring in the latest and greatest voice pick technology to the warehouse and new , enterprisestyle inventory management systems . Consequently , we expect to see greater efficiencies in the warehouse and greater inventory control , giving our customers a high level of confidence that the merchandise stored with us will be well-maintained , protected and well controlled .”
True teamwork
Concluding our conversation , Joe and Bill are keen to extend their gratitude to all the partners who helped make it happen . “ There are a couple of people I ’ d love to mention and thank . We appreciate the opportunity to carry incredible , world-class brands of ice cream , frozen food , chilled beverages , and milk . We only deal with the best of the nationally recognized brands , but there are some local partners we work with that I ’ d like to mention . “ We ’ re moving our infrastructure from Escambia County to Santa Rosa County , due to the warm welcome and great support we ’ ve received from Shannon Ogletree , Executive Director of the Santa Rosa County Economic Development Office ( SREDO ), and
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