TIFTON — Reinke Irrigation held a ribbon cutting at their Tifton parts distribution center on July 23.

The facility, located at 2703 Carpenter Road, is placed to supply dealers throughout the entire southeast, according to Southeast Territory Manager Mike Mills, who was at the ribbon cutting.

“It’s so exciting as a territory manager to be able to open this facility and bring this resource to our dealers so they can take better care of our customers, as well as demonstrate to the growers in the region that we’re here,” Mills said.

While it is not a retail location, the new parts distribution center is expected to cut down on the time it takes to get parts to dealers from days to hours, according to Mills.

Russ Reinke, first vice president of Reinke Irrigation, attended the ribbon cutting as well.

“We’re very excited to be here,” Reinke said. “It’s a great location, everybody’s been more than helpful to make this happen. It’s a way for us to better serve our dealers and customers down in this area.”

“There’s a lot about this region that worked for us,” said Mills. “The geography in relation to our dealers, as well as our ability to  be able to work with shipping and freight companies to reach the vast majority of our customer base in a short amount of time. In addition, the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce was very instrumental in helping us see the benefits of being right here with the folks in Tifton and Tift County.”

Mills said that the parts distribution center has been in the works for years and is intended to be the flagship location that other distribution centers will be modeled on.

“This for us has been a big step forward in how we distribute parts not only locally but around the country and the world,” he said.