CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 8, 2022 – A ceremony was held today to celebrate the groundbreaking for Cleveland Cold Storage, a 156,000-square-foot freezer on the Opportunity Corridor in Cleveland. The project is the first private development planned on the Opportunity Corridor and will position the Northeast Ohio Region’s thriving $3 billion food industry for additional growth. The project is supported with a JobsOhio $2 million Ohio Site Inventory Program, a program to fill gaps in Ohio’s real estate inventory.

Cleveland Cold Storage will provide a full range of frozen storage, distribution and transportation services for local, regional, national, and international processors, grocers, distributors, and others in a state-of-the-art facility.

Weston, one of the region’s largest privately held industrial property owners and developers, will construct the facility. Orlando Baking Company, the five-generation family organization headquartered in Cleveland, will add to their presence in the area as the first tenant of the new property, conveniently located across the street from their current headquarters.

The Cleveland Cold Storage project started several years ago with an initial discussion about the dire need of additional cold storage in Northeast Ohio between and among John A. Orlando, Nick Pacitti, a 40-year veteran of the food industry, and CBRE executive Howard Lichtig. From there, a cross-organization team including JobsOhio, Team NEO, Project Management Consultants, the city of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and Cuyahoga County worked with Weston to bring the project to fruition.

“Cleveland Cold Storage has been under consideration for several years. With zero capacity for cold storage in Northeast Ohio and throughout Ohio, the ripple effect has been staggering in terms of excess miles, excess inventory and excess costs,” said Nick Pacitti, Cleveland Cold Storage – Head of Sales. “In my experience in working with such industry giants as Kraft, Nestlé, and others, the need has never been greater for more efficient flow of temperature-controlled foods. As such, our goal was to focus on an individual cold chain corridor that could leverage the region’s food advantages, while keeping costs low and providing highly responsive services for customers and their customers. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic proved how the current food model struggled to meet rapidly shifting demand. In improving responsiveness and resiliency, Cleveland Cold Storage will focus on selected producers, products and customized transportation solutions in developing a highly efficient cold storage and distribution program nationwide.”

Members of the cross-organizational team share their insights:

"Orlando Baking Company's expansion demonstrates how Ohio is prepared to fill the growing need for cold food storage space in the United States. The new refrigerated space will attract food processing companies and promote future development along the Opportunity Corridor."

- Terry Slaybaugh

Vice President of Sites and Infrastructure

JobsOhio

"Orlando Baking Company has been a staple in the city of Cleveland for decades. We are delighted that they are a partner, the first tenant and the operator of the new 156,000 square-foot Cleveland Cold Storage state-of-the-art facility, reinforcing their commitment to our city.”

- Mayor Justin Bibb

City of Cleveland

“Cuyahoga County is proud to provide a $500,000 catalytic grant to create a new storage facility for both new and existing food processing businesses along the Opportunity Corridor. I look forward to the hundreds of jobs expected to come to the Opportunity Corridor as we work with our partners to further support this food cluster initiative.”

- County Executive Armond Budish

Cuyahoga County

“The Northeast Ohio Region is home to a large and growing value chain of food manufacturing and processing companies. The addition of cold storage capabilities is a critical component of this robust supply chain. This, coupled with our strong logistics and highly skilled talent pool, ensures continued success in the industry.”

- Bill Koehler

Chief Executive Officer

Team NEO

“The new facility gives our food service companies access to cold storage space locally instead of outside our region. In addition, as an economic asset, it helps create new jobs and will attract more food service businesses along Opportunity Corridor.”

- Baiju R. Shah

President and CEO

Greater Cleveland Partnership

About Weston

As a family-owned enterprise, Weston values relationships and a long-term view in crafting

solutions to corporate real estate needs. A valued member of our community, Weston’s generosity is now multi-generational and has created an enduring legacy in this regard. Founded by Anthony J. Asher over 30 years ago, the organization has grown into a regional portfolio that makes them a market leader with industrial and other opportunistic development that has served this firm’s clients extremely well over the years.

About Team NEO

Team NEO is a private, nonprofit economic development organization accelerating business growth and job creation throughout the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region. As the designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we align and amplify local economic development efforts in the region’s 18-counties; we conduct research and data analysis to inform local conversations and influence solutions; we market the Northeast Ohio Region; and we work to increase access to jobs, education and training for the region’s 4.3 million people. We do this to

build a more vibrant regional economy; one that is more talented, equitable, competitive, innovative, resilient and prosperous. For more information, visit teamneo.org.

About JobsOhio

JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.