First Supply to build distribution center

A new distribution center for hardware group First Companies is coming to West Salem next year, bringing new job potential to the county. Construction will begin next month and the center will be operational by March 2025.

The 308,000-square-foot planned distribution center will be a new First Supply distributor. By adding the new center, La Crosse-based First Companies hopes to improve its supply chain operations and enhance customer service.

First Supply is a major Midwest supply distributor for contractors working in HVAC, plumbing, water works and hardware ventures. The company already has a central distribution center in La Crosse with secondary distributors in Tomah and Winona, Minnesota.

"We are thrilled to make this investment in western Wisconsin where our business was founded 126 years ago," said First Companies CEO Katie Poehling Seymour. "Over the past five generations, we`ve grown across the upper Midwest, but our hub has always been in La Crosse County."

Brooke Barney, communications manager for First Companies, said the new center will increase product capacity, streamline distribution and expand potential A inventory using new distribution technology available...