Crossroads Warehouse Executives Discuss Doing Business in Missouri, Achieving Highly Coveted Certification, & Growth Strategies
- June 06, 2024
CFO and COO provide in-depth look at successful Missouri company
Who is Crossroads Warehouse?
Crossroads Warehouse was established in 2004. Initially, we also operated a trucking company that was founded in 1986. Many of our customers frequently inquired about storage and warehouse space, prompting us to expand our services. We assisted several manufacturing companies facing space constraints, enabling them to increase their production capacity. Our journey began with the construction of a small warehouse, which was filled with products even before completion. This success led to the rapid development of a second warehouse, followed shortly by a third. Eventually, we sold the trucking company to focus exclusively on the warehouse industry. Recently, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for our latest expansion, adding another 100,000 square feet to our facility.
What do you store?
Over the past 20 years, we have stored a wide variety of items. Our inventory has included empty bottles and lids for shake and sports drink manufacturers, corporate files, dog food, and finished products like gallons of juice destined for grocery stores nationwide. Recently, we have shifted our focus exclusively to food and food-related products. We were awarded the Supplier Assurance-Distribution Certification by NSF, an organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to certify supplier compliance with U.S. food safety regulations under the FDA’s Accredited Third-Party Certification program.
The Supplier Assurance certification process involves a rigorous evaluation to ensure facilities meet stringent standards in areas such as maintenance, cleanliness, pest control, personal hygiene, chemical and allergen control, staff training, and food defense. These standards are crucial for companies involved in the storage, distribution, and transportation of food products, playing a vital role in the global food supply chain.
What other services do you offer?
For our local manufacturing clients, we provide a shuttle service. Our trucks and drivers pick up products from the manufacturing plants and transport them to our warehouse. Sometimes, these products are raw ingredients needed by another manufacturing company in the area. In such cases, we load and deliver the necessary items to the respective companies, offering a local version of over-the-road trucking. Additionally, we can load external carriers from our warehouse and ship products anywhere in the country.
We also offer cross-docking services for truck drivers passing through the area who need their loads rearranged. Drivers can bring their loads to us, and we will unload, rearrange, and reload the products according to their needs. If a truck has pallets that need to be temporarily stored for a few hours or days, we can accommodate that and then deliver the items later, either with a different truck or using our local shuttle services.
What is it like doing business in Missouri?
We absolutely love it! Missouri’s central location is ideal for serving businesses on both coasts, facilitating shipping from the East to the West, and from the South to the North, and vice versa. Our facility is conveniently situated near major highways, including I-44, I-49, Highway 249, and the Historic Route 66. Being in the heart of the country offers tremendous advantages for us and our customers in the manufacturing sector.
Do all products need to be on pallets?
No, we can handle a wide range of products, not just those on pallets. We have special attachments for our forklifts to manage large rolls. For example, some of our customers produce wrappers for fast food companies. These wrappers are shipped in huge rolls of paper before they are printed on. With our clamp attachment, we can unload these rolls and reload them when they’re ready to be sent to the printer.
Where are you located?
Our address is Carthage, Missouri, but we are positioned midway between Joplin and Carthage. Our facility is conveniently near the Industrial Parks in both Webb City and Joplin.
What makes Crossroads stand out when compared to other warehouse and storage businesses?
At Crossroads Warehouse, we pride ourselves on solving our customers’ problems with personalized, hands-on service. As a family-owned and operated business, we are deeply involved in our daily operations. It’s not uncommon to see leadership team on a forklift ensuring that every task is handled with precision.
We see ourselves as an extension of our customers’ businesses. By putting ourselves in their shoes, we ensure that their products are handled with the utmost care and attention. Our staff is trained to focus on details and maintain high standards, but we also believe in creating a fun and supportive work environment. Our marketing team doubles as our culture department, organizing activities that make our workplace enjoyable. At Crossroads Warehouse, we take care of each other like family, fostering a culture of dedication, excellence, and camaraderie.
We help manufacturing companies by allowing them to focus on their main goal: making products, not warehousing. By storing products for them, we free up space at their location for increased manufacturing capacity. We take care of warehousing and storage so they don’t have to, enabling them to concentrate on what they do best.