Now that its expansion plan has been approved by the town of Pamelia, beverage distributor A.J. Missert Inc., 25510 Industrial Blvd., will add 10,000 square feet of storage space to its 20,000-square-foot warehouse.

The expanded warehouse will help the distributing business add more clients and staff members to expand its operation, said co-owner David S. Missert, who runs the business with brothers James and John, who manage its second location in Ogdensburg.

The distributor, which services grocery stores and taverns, has some 450 customers in Jefferson and Lewis counties and about 300 in St. Lawrence County.

Mr. Missert said the number of clients working with the business has slowly snowballed since it opened its Pamelia-based warehouse in 1995.

“We were growing at a nice rate for a long period of time, and I attribute it to our portfolio of beverage brands and the increased population in Jefferson County,” he said, adding that Fort Drum’s expansion helped the cause. “We found we needed additional storage this year and started the project.”

The distributor houses high-profile beverages, including Coors, Sam Adams, Red Bull and Nestle products.

Workers from DC Builders in Watertown began tearing down the building’s walls this week, he said, and the warehouse is expected to be completed by the month’s end.

Mr. Missert said that he expects to hire additional staff as the distributor adds more clients.

Twenty-five employees work at the Pamelia-based warehouse, and the Ogdensburg location is staffed by the same number.

“What we’re doing is looking to the future for growth, but it’s hard to tell how many employees we’ll hire right now,” he said.

Lauding its “business-friendly” approach, Mr. Missert added the Pamelia Town Council approved the project swiftly in July.

“Business-friendly government is something that the state has lost, but the town is an exception to this,” he said.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer