TIFTON – CFM Food Distributors, Inc., a national distribution company, has opened an operations center in Tifton.

CFM has moved into the 102,000-square -foot building that was formerly home to COI Food Distribution in the Tift County Industrial Park. While the company will start here with a small presence of eight employees, officials said they think they have found the right location to expand to 75 to 100 employees.

“Coming to Tifton makes a lot of sense for us and everything has worked out very well,” said Vice President for National Accounts Peter Levos. “We’re excited to get things going here and look forward to a long partnership.”

Founded in 1924, CFM is headquartered in Watertown, N.Y., and has previously serviced restaurants in the northeast portion of the country, going as far south as Virginia and west to Illinois. The acquisition of the Tifton facility will allow the company to broaden its distribution, the latest in a series of expansions the company has seen in the last few years. CFM expanded its headquarters in New York in 2006.

“This is a great company and we happened to have what they were looking for,” said Dallas Hunt, chairman of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce. “They’ve been in business for a lot of years and know how to run their business. I think they’ll be great for Tifton."

Having a company move into the facility relieved a burden for the Tift County Development Authority as well. When COI filed for bankruptcy last year, the Development Authority was saddled with the balance of the note on the building. CFM has now taken possession of the facility and has plenty of room to grow with expansion in the future. The company could also sublet to other industries.

“We needed to get a good company back out there and I think we did,” said Grady Thompson, Tift County Commission chairman. “When we lost COI, we lost a lot of jobs and that hurt us. This is a good start back. We hope these jobs will turn into more jobs down the line. You never know how someone will do, but this company has performed well so we expect they’ll do even better down here.”

The move will allow CFM to further its territory into the Southeast and other parts of the country. Levos said several things attracted the company to the site after learning about its availability.

“We knew there were a lot of people associated with the previous company here who knew about this business and we’ve been able to bring in some of their best employees,” he said. “Also, the location is great with access to points all around the region and the Development Authority and the Chamber of Commerce were there for us the whole way. They answered any question we had and made the transition process as easy as it could have been.”

Tifton Mayor Jamie Cater, who also serves on the Development Authority, said local government bodies will continue to work together to pursue industry that fits Tift County’s makeup.

“Tifton has a lot to offer and now we’re all working together to let people know about it,” he said. “We will continue to do whatever we can to bring good jobs to Tifton and then we’ll work hard to help them thrive here.”