Office Jobs in Rhode Island Created by UNFI Move
Posted on October 16, 2008
The relocation of a company could create new office jobs in Rhode Island.
United Natural Foods Inc. recently announced its plans to move its headquarters from Dayville, Connecticut to Providence, Rhode Island in May 2009. The company plans to combine executive and administrative offices by relocating about 150 employees, and will maintain its presence in Connecticut, where its distribution facility is the third-largest on the East Coast and the sixth-largest in the country.
UNFI carries and distributes more than 60,000 products to more than 17,000 customers throughout America. The company serves many retail formats, including conventional supermarket chains, natural product superstores, independent retail operators and the food service channel.
“United Natural Foods is excited to move its corporate headquarters to Rhode Island and take advantage of the area’s strong talent pool and resources, and the state’s strategic Northeast location,” Tom Dziki, vice president of sustainable development for UNFI, said in a press release.
“In Providence, UNFI has found an ideal environment for our business and a solid platform to deliver on our vision to contribute positively to the environment and provide people with healthier food, grown and produced naturally,” Dziki added. “We look forward to setting up our operations in the American Locomotive Works development, and completing our relocation to Rhode Island by May, 2009.”
The company plans to further expand its headquarters workforce to about 240 associates over the next three years.
“We are very pleased to welcome United Natural Foods to Rhode Island,” Governor Donald L. Carcieri said in the release. “The relocation of UNFI’s corporate headquarters to Providence is expected to bring good, high wage jobs to Rhode Island with more job growth opportunity to follow in the months and years to come. This is exactly the kind of economic growth Rhode Island needs to build a more prosperous future for our state.
American Locomotive Works is an innovative neighborhood transformation project in Providence. The mixed-use development will contain up to 1.7-million-square-feet of commercial, retail and residential space and create a vibrant new neighborhood in an underutilized section of the city.
UNFI’s new facility in Rhode Island is expected to be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified commercial interior project, reflecting the company’s long-standing commitment and a proactive concern for the environment. UNFI is hopeful that its new corporate headquarters will be used as a solar power pilot program for Rhode Island.
In 2005, UNFI was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Managed Companies in America,” it was ranked by Fortune in 2006 and 2007 as one of its “Most Admired Companies,” ranked by Business Ethics as one of its “100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2006” and was winner of the Supermarket News 2008 Sustainability Excellence Award.